


Eiffel Through a Portal

by give_it_agreste



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Alternate universe AU, F/M, Oblivious, Oblivious Adrien Agreste, Oblivious Marinette Dupain-Cheng, au au, chat noir nino, ladybug alya
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-07-19
Updated: 2018-05-23
Packaged: 2018-07-25 11:13:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 13
Words: 23,580
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7530496
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/give_it_agreste/pseuds/give_it_agreste
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>During an akuma fight, Ladybug and Chat Noir are flung into an alternate dimension. They find out that they are no longer superheros and instead are living the lives of their bestfriends'. Adrien's dad is loving and Marinette is finally dating the boy of her dreams. Everything seems perfect... until it's not. Adrien has to wait until his Ladybug can fix everything and get it back to normal. But can she? Does she want to?</p>
<p>Inspired by @adrienagrests AU AU on tumblr</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Eiffel Through a Portal

Ladybug and Chat Noir’s first thoughts when fighting this particular akumatized victim, was to stay clear away from it’s effects. The Alternator, as it liked to be called, shot a beam from it’s staff, sending people into an alternate reality. This was all because he had a bad day and thought that the only thing that could make it better was to live in an alternate dimension, free of it’s his pain and sorrow.

  
It all happened so quickly. First, Chat Noir was sent into the portal. Ladybug knew she could cleanse the butterfly on her own, and that he would be back when she said ‘Miraculous Ladybug’, but she still needed his help with finding the akuma’s hiding spot. She was trying to do multiple things at once, and it led to her being distracted and that’s when she was hit.

  
After going through the portal and landing in what seemed like Paris, Adrien noticed that he wasn’t wearing Chat’s black suit anymore. He wasn’t Chat Noir. He didn’t have his ring. He really wasn’t Chat Noir anymore. He started wandering around, looking for a familiar face.

  
When Marinette came, she was also in her normal clothes. She felt for her earrings, and they weren’t there. That’s when she saw Adrien. She told herself to act casual, because this was reality Adrien.  
“Hey.” She said touching his shoulder. He jumped a bit, but turned around and smiled. She refrained from saying his name, so she’d have an excuse (If he didn’t recognize her, she could just say she thought he was someone else). Adrien acted the same way, because this was reality Marinette he was looking at.

  
“Have you seen Chat Noir?” As soon as the last word left his mouth, a black-suited hero swung past them with his staff. They were both confused, because that wasn’t the Chat Noir they both knew. That person had brown hair and dark skin, unlike his blonde hair and fair skin. Before Marinette could ask about Ladybug, someone in a similar red suit to the one she was in five minutes ago, swung behind him. That wasn’t herself either. This superhero had light brown skin and dark hair. All Marinette could do was point at the superheroes that she was unfamiliar with.

  
Moments after the superhero’s disappeared, Alya showed up.

  
“Marinette, I saw that post about the history of Ladybugs on the Ladyblog last night. Super cool!”

  
“Ladyblog? I thoug- oh.” In the middle of her sentence, Marinette remembered that she wasn’t in her normal life, so of course things would be different. The real questions are: Who are the ‘real’ Ladybug and Chat Noir? And if her Chat Noir from her reality is in this one, where is he? “Yeah, I thought it was neat, too.” Marinette had never been the best actor.

  
“And Adrien, I heard you had a show tomorrow night. Count me there. I can’t wait to hear your music!” A show? Adrien didn’t know anything about music except stuff he had learned from Nino, which wasn’t much.

  
“Okay.” Adrien smiled a sincere smile. Probably from shock of being in a completely new and different place, Adrien hadn’t noticed the grey headphones around his neck, sort of like the ones he always saw Nino wear.

  
“We should be getting to school now.” Alya said.

  
“Yeah. Let’s go.” Marinette took in a heavy breath, and sighed.  
\--  
“Oh, hey Nino.” Marinette called to their friend once she saw him at the school. He looked like Nino, but he wasn’t wearing his glasses and he didn’t have his hat on. It was a wonder he never modeled with Adrien before because in this moment, he actually looked like a model. Everything is switched in this life, so he must have Adrien’s life.

  
“Mari, what are you doing? You know I can’t say one word around Nino!” Alya pleaded.

  
“But you guys are dating?” Marinette questioned.

  
“What? I wish I wa-”, Nino walked up to them, Alya stopping in the middle of her sentence. She’d never seen Alya so lost for words. It was weird, especially since it was with Nino.

  
“Hey, Alya. Marinette, where’s Adrien?”

  
“He was just with us. I think he’s that way.” She pointed in the direction that they had left him.

  
“Alright, thanks.” He smiled a sincere smile towards the both of them. As he left, she heard Alya breathe like she was a swimmer coming up for air.

  
“He- I- Marinette. He’s so cute.” Marinette looked at her friend, remembering how she used act around Adrien. At first, she’d been awkward and couldn’t say one word to him without dying. But after they had all become friends, they became closer. Not as close as Marinette would’ve liked, but they were almost best friends.

  
“Why did you think that Nino and I were dating, anyway?” Alya asked.

  
Quick, think of something, Marinette.

  
“I j-just overheard someone talking about you and Nino. I guess I misunderstood.”

  
“Well, if Nino and I started dating,” she giggled at the thought, “you’d be the first person I’d tell.”

  
“I hope so,” Marinette laughed with her, “Do you want to stay over after Adrien’s show tomorrow night?”

  
“Yes. Speaking of his show, what are you wearing?” Marinette hadn’t thought about it.

 

“I will think about that, and get back to you. Now, let’s go. Class is starting.”

  
-

  
Walking into class, Marinette went to sit in her normal seat.

  
“Mari, where are you going? You sit there,” she said, pointing at Adrien’s seat. Well, Adrien’s seat if things were normal.

  
Adrien and Nino walked in, sitting across the row from Alya and Marinette, Adrien on the inside. He looked confused, but hid it well. Since everyone else was already in their seats, Adrien was almost certain his spot was the one next to Nino.

  
Marinette smiled at him. He was so cute when he was confused. She blushed as he grinned back at her. His silly grin reminded her of her Chat Noir. She quickly tried to brush him out of her mind. Adrien and Chat can’t be the same person, she thought. Adrien is so sophisticated, and Chat is just… Chat.

  
If it wasn’t obvious, Adrien missed Ladybug. He missed being Chat Noir. He even missed Plagg, complaints and all. He just wanted his old life back. Although his father wasn’t around, Ladybug was. Adrien knew she would never give up on him; they needed each other too much.

  
School was over, and Marinette tried to get herself together. From what she knew, her life was Alya’s. She wasn’t Ladybug, she ran the Ladybug. From what she saw of Ladybug previously, she deduced that Alya was her superhero identity in this reality. That terrified Marinette, because if she could figure out Alya’s identity, what could stop people in her own reality from finding out that Marinette equaled Ladybug? After all, Ladybug was basically Marinette with a spandex ladybug suit on.

  
\--

  
When going home, Marinette took a leap of faith when she opened the door to the bakery. Fortunately, this was her home in this reality, too. Her parents were her parents and nothing had changed. She went to her room. It had been a long day for her. She needed to find Chat, and figure out how to get things back to normal. Part of Marinette didn’t want to leave. Things were ideal here. Although she loved being Ladybug, she missed time for herself. She missed being on time to school. She missed wearing different earrings. This is what it would have been like if Alya found the earrings when Marinette hid them in her bag.

  
Finding out Chat’s civilian identity would also come with leaving, and Marinette wasn’t sure if she’d be ready. After all, they weren’t supposed to know.

  
For Adrien, this life was entirely different. In his old life, he would jump around Paris as Chat Noir in his free time. Since he didn’t have the luxury of a transformation, he decided to stroll around Paris. His dad never cared, and Nathalie didn’t care as long as he was home before 9:00. Nathalie never knew he would sneak out his windows as Chat after he arrived home as Adrien at 8:55. In this life, however, it was 4:00 and his dad was texting him asking where he was.

  
In this moment, Adrien was thankful for the ‘Find My Friends’ app on his phone. He quickly followed to his father’s location. It wasn’t his mansion of a house he ended up at, which made his heart race a little bit. If he lived in this house with his father that meant that his father didn’t have his job that required him to be away a lot. In this reality, he might be able to have a healthy father-son-relationship with his father.

  
When he walked in, his father was watching a television show. He never watched television unless he was on it.

  
“Hey, I’m home.”

  
“Adrien, I was worried. You usually come straight home after school.” Adrien’s heart quickened. His father was worried about something other than his reputation.  
“I’m sorry. It’s been a long day and I just wanted to relax on my way home.” And he was lost, but he wouldn’t admit that to raise suspicion from his father.  
“Will you go across the street to the Dupain-Chengs’ bakery for some croissants? Get a half-dozen.” His father said, pulling out his wallet.

  
“Yeah.” He took the money and started across the street. As he walked in, a bell above his head rung.

  
“How can we help you?” Mrs. Dupain-Cheng said from the back of the bakery. She made her way to the front to see the customer. “Oh-Hello, Adrien. What do you need?”

  
“Half-dozen croissants.”

  
“Okay.” She grabbed the croissants and put them in a little baggy, handing them to Adrien, him beginning to take his money out. “No, it’s on the house.”

  
“Wha- Let me pay you.” Adrien demanded.

  
“You do enough, Adrien. You make my daughter happy and that’s enough to give you free croissants.” He knew Marinette was her daughter, but she always seemed squeamish around him. “Do you want me to call her down? Of course you want to see her.”

  
“I-uh...” Adrien stammered.

“Marinette! Your boyfriend is here!” Her mom called, sending panic into both Adrien and Marinette.


	2. Father

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cute father and son moment between Adrien and Gabriel.

As Marinette sat in bed, doing her homework, she heard her mom call from downstairs in the bakery. Her mother was usually soft-spoken, but she could raise her voice if she wanted to.

“Marinette! Your boyfriend is here.” Boyfriend? Marinette didn’t have a boyf- oh, right. Alternate reality boyfriend. Who could it be? Nathanael? It was probably Nathanael, and Marinette would be alright with that. She would have to be, seeing as she didn’t want to ruin her alternative self’s love life.

She quickly, but calmly, made her way down the stairs. She was not prepared for the blonde-haired, green-eyed boy waiting for her. On the outside, she was calm; on the inside, she was dead. The boy that she’d had such a big crush on was her boyfriend. Adrien Agreste was her boyfriend. Not just a friend who was boy, but her boyfriend.

Adrien had slightly more time to prepare when Marinette was making her way down to bakery, but he still felt shocked. He looked at Marinette; her eyes wide and mouth agape. She was freaking out. Had alternative Marinette not know that they were dating? Had this been a cruel joke by Marinette’s mom? Marinette’s mom wasn’t like that. She was nice. But this is alternate Sabine Dupain-Cheng we are talking about, she could be the exact opposite like Adrien’s father.

He shrugged, and walked over and hugged Marinette. He had to make it seem real. He pulled his head back. “You’re coming to my show tomorrow night, right?”

She nodded her head. Speaking was out of Marinette’s capabilities at the moment. When they finally let go of each other, Adrien kissed her on the cheek. It was all for show, he told himself. Marinette told herself that this is something alternate Adrien would do, but she was still freaking out. Another reason not to want to leave. Adrien was her boyfriend, she mentally added that to the list.

\--

Having a kwami had pros and cons. Mostly pros. It was a small, pocket-sized friend/guardian that gave Marinette and Adrien powers to save Paris. Marinette didn’t have any cons about Tikki, but Adrien had a few criticisms of Plagg. He complained—all the time—about Adrien’s Ladybug obsession, Adrien’s complains, and Adrien not giving him cheese. Though he loved not smelling like Camembert and he loved not having a portable complaining cat-thing, Adrien missed Plagg. He found himself wishing he was back to his old life, though this one had its perks.

-

During dinner with his father, Adrien heard the sounds of an akuma: crumbling buildings and piercing screams.

“Will you excuse me? I need to use the restroom.” Adrien asked politely. “Yes.” He walked calmly to his room, before yelling for his kwami. “Plagg, claws out!” Nothing happened. Adrien was confused, but then remembered he wasn’t Chat Noir anymore and became upset.

-

On the other side of the street, Marinette did the same thing, except she was alone in her room, studying. She was trying to study, but it was hard when she couldn’t get Adrien out of her mind.

“Tikki, spots on!” She hadn’t transformed. “Oh… I’m not Ladybug anymore.”

“Marinette, there’s an akuma attack, aren’t you going to film it for the Ladyblog?” Her mom called from the living room, the news in the background. Oh, right. The Ladyblog. She grabbed her phone and headed out. She had been present for every akuma attack so she knew exactly what she needed to do to be Alya.

“Be safe. Je t’aime. ” Her mother called as she walked out of the house and into the street.

When she finally found the source of the akuma, she pulled out her phone and began recording. The person had been a student in a talent show. The judges told him to ‘blow them away’. When his classmates embarrassed him onstage, he decided he would literally blow everyone away. He called himself the Souffler.

Marinette watched as Ladybug and Chat Noir defeated the akuma with Ladybug’s Lucky Charm, gum. The prevailing wind was coming from a small, but powerful, fan on the helmet of Souffler. She blew the bubble in his face. When it popped, the blades got stuck and she finally found the akuma in the participation ribbon on his chest.

It was different watching Ladybug, instead of being her. Sure, she had her suspicions of it being Alya, but no hard evidence. She needed to talk to Alya. As much as she wanted to stay in this world, she needed to get back to her own life. If Alya would give her the earrings, she could do her own Lucky Charm, and then things would be fixed for her world. She also needed to find Chat Noir—her Chat Noir. Watching this duo fight crime also made her appreciate Chat Noir more. He did a lot, but as much as she tried, the public loved Ladybug more. She knew he came in, but didn’t know where. She suspected he was also turned into his civilian form, as she was. That made it that much more difficult to find him.

\--

For once in his life, Adrien was truly happy with his father. His father showed love, compassion, and actual parenting skills; all things Adrien hadn’t seen from him before. If he never got back home, he wouldn’t mind. There was some things Adrien would change about this life, though (i.e. DJ’ing, since he had no skills whatsoever, the fact that his Ladybug wasn’t here), but he was happy. If he could change his father in the other life to be like this one, he would do it in a heartbeat.

That night, Adrien watched every single, quick-learning DJ video he could find on YouTube. Adrien didn’t want to disappoint anyone that would be going, so he made sure to find out as much as he could. He had some equipment in his room. He decided to take a shot at it. After all, he’d be doing this in front of an audience, and his girlfriend.

He didn’t know all the technical terms yet, but he began to try. He stared spinning the discs and hitting buttons.

“Adrien, that sounds awesome!” His father said, walking by his room. Adrien stopped.

“Was that a compliment?” Adrien asked. His father had never complimented him.

“Yes! It was. I’m so proud of you, son. I love you.” He’d been longing to hear those last three words from anyone. He always seemed to care more about others than they did him. Of course, he loved his father. He loved Ladybug, too. Gabriel was always too busy for Adrien, and Ladybug had never accepted his feelings. To have his father tell him he loved him gave him love and hope. Hope for his feelings for Ladybug to be reciprocated.

“I-I love you too.” He began crying.

“Are you crying?” His father walked over and hugged him.

“Yeah. I think- I think I’m just a little overwhelmed. With everything.”

“I understand.” But you don’t, Adrien thought. He couldn’t tell his father that he was Chat Noir and fell through a portal during an akuma attack, to find out that you aren’t a superhero and one of your best friends is now your girlfriend. “You do well in school, you treat Marinette well, and you’re a great DJ. It’s hard for me to handle working and parenting sometimes, but I wouldn’t change it for the world.”

“I can’t thank you enough. For all the support you’ve given me lately.” Well… today, Adrien thought.

“I will always support and love you. You’re my only son. I’m your only father. We need each other. In the end, it’s me and you, buddy. I know you have other things in your life that make you happy, but you are the only good thing in my life. I never want to lose this.” Adrien cried harder into his father’s shoulder with every word. It made it harder and harder to want to leave. He wanted, for so long, for his father to show he cared about him. Now, his father’s heart is on his sleeve, and Adrien can’t be cheerful. Ladybug is going to fix everything, and then his life is going back to before. Lonely, secluded, and busy. He wasn’t going to have a father or a girlfriend. A girlfriend- he could change, but his father wouldn’t be like this one.

“You need to get to sleep. You still have school tomorrow, my musically-talented son.” He kissed his forehead. “I will say it always. I love you, Adrien.”

“I love you too, Dad.” And for the first time in a very long time, Adrien called his father ‘dad’.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello!  
> Thanks for reading!  
> If you'd like to be tagged or messaged when the next chapter is up, feel free to leave you tumblr below.  
> Also comments/criticisms/kudos are greatly appreciated.  
> Chapter 3 should be up soon!  
> CHAPTER 3 SPOILER: Adrienette. Adrienette everywhere.


	3. My Girlfriend

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Adrien realizes just how much Marinette means to him.
> 
> warning; there's a cuss word, and mild violence (someone gets into a fight ;) )

It was a big day for both Adrien and Marinette.

For Adrien, it was his first show. Although he recently got flung into this life—quite literally—he was excited. His father was finally proud of him for doing something.

As for Marinette, she was planning on confronting Alya. There was a large possibility that other-Ladybug was Alya. First, they looked similar. They both had dark hair and greenish-brown eyes. Secondly, she never saw them both in the same place. If it was Alya, it would be much easier than if it was a stranger. Most likely, Alya would let Marinette borrow her earrings to fix things. Hopefully, Alya would understand.

-

“Marinette!” Oh, no—it was Chloe. Marinette was armed with insults for her and ready to fire them. “I was wondering if I could go to Adrien’s concert with you and Alya. Sabrina is sick, and I don’t think I would have much fun by myself.” Right—this was nice-Chloe. Marinette could get used to this Chloe; she wouldn’t have to fight her.

“Of course, Chloe. We’ll see you there?”

“Thanks!” She smiled—unlike her devious, plot-scheming grins. “Oh, look there’s Adrien. I’ll leave you two alone.”

Marinette looked in the direction Chloe was looking before she walked away. Adrien was absolutely glowing. It was totally different than his usual, strictly-physical glow. It was like it was coming from his soul. Marinette had seen Adrien come into school so many times upset, but Adrien was happy and she didn’t think it was just from his show tonight. Seeing Adrien happy was one of the things she would always want for him.

“What has you so happy?” Of course, it was his DJ show tonight. Marinette felt stupid for asking.

“I’m super excited for my show tonight.” Yep, Marinette felt dumb.

“And, I also took some time to appreciate all the wonderful people I have in my life, including you,” he said, hugging her. Adrien had to constantly ask himself—would Marinette’s-boyfriend-Adrien do this? But he figured—he was Adrien, so anything he did would most likely fit the bill for her expectations for him.

“I appreciate you too, Adrien.” She smiled. If not for his affectionate love for Ladybug, he was sure he could like Marinette. She was like her in some ways—their bravery and leadership skills mirrored each other. Ladybug could be Marinette, but Adrien wasn’t sure. Adrien didn’t want to pressure either of them into telling him. At this point in time, he couldn’t ask Ladybug because she wasn’t here. 

-

“Class, calm down. I know today is exciting, but school isn’t over yet.” Ms. Bustier tried to calm her students. Everyone was buzzing with excitement for Adrien’s concert. No big-name people were going to be there, but Adrien was happy that his whole class and his father—especially his father—were going to be there. As much as Adrien was excited, he was nervous. Two days previously, Adrien would never expected himself to be a DJ. But now, he was mere hours away from performing in front of some of the people he cared most about. He didn’t want to disappoint them, but he was willing to do his best.

As class went on, the excitement died down enough to get some work done. Although, Adrien still couldn’t concentrate. He managed to do a satisfactory job on his work, but his mind was on other things. Could he pull this off? Was he good enough of a DJ to make good enough music for people to actually listen to? His father could’ve been doing the parent-thing where they tell you that something you’ve made or done is good, but in reality, it’s the worst thing they’ve ever seen. But then again, Adrien didn’t know much about how parents were supposed to act.

As long as the day felt, it really was over quickly. Adrien went home to get ready and then to the venue to set up with some of his DJ friends—he didn’t know they were his friends until he got message notification from a group chat with them asking if he needed help. Marinette, Alya, and the rest of class—besides Sabrina—were at home getting ready. Marinette decided to wear high-waisted black jeans with a red and black striped t-shirt and red Converse. Alya wore orange button-up shirt that was tied at the waist with blue-skinny jeans and white flats. Adrien wore a grey v-neck, black pants with grey Converse.

-

“Thanks for helping me set up, guys.” His friends accepted his appreciation and left. He had nothing left to do but relax and wait until everyone showed up.

Everything was ready to go, except Adrien. Like most people would be, Adrien was still very nervous. He didn’t have any DJ training besides a few YouTube videos and some hitting buttons and moving things.

“I’m going to go check on Adrien.” Marinette said once she saw Alya and Chloe. They nodded in understanding.

Backstage, Adrien was sitting in a folding-chair, his elbows on his knees and hands in his face. He wasn’t crying, but it seemed like he was about to.

“Adrien, what’s wrong?” Marinette said, putting her hand on his shoulder. He instinctively put his hand on hers.

“I’m going to mess up, I know it. But I can’t not go out there. I don’t want to disappoint anyone—especially my father. I’m not good enough to go out in front of a crowd. I’m too nervous to go out there. I’m just... I’m not going out there.”

“Woah-woah, Adrien. Never ever tell yourself that you aren’t good enough. You are amazing in whatever you do. So what if you mess up? No one’s perfect. Your father will love you and understand if you mess up. Not even I can force you to go out there, but I don’t want you to give up because of some silly nerves. You, Adrien Agreste, will always be miraculous to me.”

Before Adrien could was process his actions, he had stood up and his lips were on hers. The words Marinette had said were ones he had always wanted to hear. From somebody—anybody. Ladybug, preferably. But Marinette was here and she was the one who, in this moment, made Adrien feel like he actually mattered. He needed to express his gratitude somehow, his heart just chose to kiss her. Marinette was equally shocked at how close his face and body were to her. This is something that she’d always wanted too. His kiss felt familiar—like that one time she kissed Chat to stop Dark Cupid.

“I’m sorry.” He chuckled, after pulling away from their embrace.

“Why are you sorry?” Marinette said quietly, after she had a few moments to process everything and gain the ability to speak again.

“I-It was a sudden and I think I scared you.” He laughed again, Marinette joining in with her giggle this time. 

“You did scare me a little, but you don’t have to be sorry. Warn me next time, though.” 

“Noted.” Adrien said, as they both laughed.

\--

To his surprise, hitting random buttons seemed to work for Adrien. Everyone cheered and danced. The feeling was euphoric. With his music, he could make people happy. He saw the smiles on everyone’s faces. His father looked at him proudly, Marinette in awe, and everyone else with appreciation.

Marinette was also elated, because of her and Adrien’s kiss before the show. She understood that this was not the Adrien she knew in her normal life. This was other-side-of-the-strange-portal-Adrien who was now her boyfriend. She knew that when she figured out how to fix this situation, everything would be back to normal. That meant that Adrien wouldn’t be her boyfriend, Chloe wouldn’t be nice, and she would have to be Ladybug again. Of course, she loved being Ladybug. She just never had time for herself or her schoolwork or a life. But now, she didn’t have to worry about that. She had normal-teenage things to stress about. She didn’t have to go back, right?

Adrien, on the other hand, was confused about the kiss. He wanted it to just be a friendly kiss like ‘Hey, thanks for helping me not be nervous’, but Adrien couldn’t shake the fact that he felt something there. When they kissed, it was like everything around them faded away. It felt like their lips moved together perfectly. After the event of one kiss, could he have feelings for Marinette? What about Ladybug? What if she fixed everything and it went back to normal? Would he just have to set aside his feelings for Marinette to focus on trying to get Ladybug to respond to his feelings? All these questions needed answers that Adrien didn’t have.

\--

Adrien’s father decided to throw him a surprise-post-performance party. All his classmates and DJ friends were invited. Beforehand, Gabriel decided he would probably go for a walk in the park, or something, so he wouldn’t be the oldest guy at his teen son’s party.

The music that was playing was Adrien’s. Apparently, his alternate-self had recorded some music before Adrien became a DJ. That was probably a good thing, because Adrien still felt he was terrible.

Marinette, Alya, Chloe, Rose, Juleka, Max, Kim, and Nino were dancing.

“I have to use the bathroom.” Marinette said to Alya and Chloe. She walked up to Adrien, “where’s your bathroom?” He pointed to a door down a hallway. After leaving the bathroom, Marinette was confronted by someone that wasn’t in her class.

It must be one of Adrien’s friends, she thought.

“Hey. Your name’s Marinette, right? I’m Phillip.” She nodded. She was a little nervous. He was a lot taller than her, about Adrien’s height. He was maybe a few inches taller.

“You’re Adrien’s girlfriend?” He looked her up and down, making her uncomfortable. He had his right arm on the wall above Marinette’s head.

“I am, so leave me alone.” She went to leave, but he moved his left hand to the wall, lower than his right to stop her from leaving. She put her hands on his shoulders to push him away, but Marinette’s small body was no match for his. He was too strong, even for her.

“I don’t know why you’re with him. Between you and me, he’s a terrible DJ. I’m way better.” He leaned in closer to her. She put her hands in his face to keep it as far away as she could, but he kept inching closer.

“Stop! Adrien!” Marinette cried for help.

“What the fuck, Phillip?” Everyone went silent. Part of Adrien was shocked. The other part expected it from these guys. They were shady. “Leave her alone.”

“Or what?” He turned away moving his arm to his side, giving Marinette time to escape and run to the others. “I don’t see how you have any friends, dude. You’re so pathetic. You’ll never be anywhere in life. In the end, you’ll be alone.”

Fury raged through Adrien’s entire body. Nothing, and no one, could stop him from attacking this guy. First, he makes his girlfriend uncomfortable, and now, he was insulting him?

“You messed with the wrong guy.” Adrien said, pulling his arm back to release right into his face. Phillip pushed Adrien against the wall breaking a picture frame with him and his parents in it.

Adrien did the one thing he knew could take down any man. He kicked him where the sun doesn’t shine.

“Screw you, Adrien.” He said through grunts.

“Get out.” Phillip did as he said and left, his ‘friends’ following.

“Are you okay?” Adrien turned to Marinette who was hugging Alya.

“I-I’m fine. He was scary. You were scary. This was scary.”

“I didn’t mean to scare you,” he said, moving his hair out of his face.

“I know, you were trying to protect me. I needed help, and you were there. But can you try not to get into a fight next time. There are adult ways to talk things out.”

“I know. I know, but he was making you uncomfortable, and saying rude things about me, and I couldn’t let him get away with that.” Adrien huffed. “There was no way I could stand there and do nothing.”

“I understand, Adrien.” She wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling it back in surprise after feeling a strange liquid that wasn’t sweat.

It was, in fact, blood.

“Adrien, oh my. You’re bleeding.”

“What? No.” He looked at her arm. His blood was definitely on her arm. It wasn’t much, but it was enough for Marinette to worry.

“Where’s your first aid kit?”

“I have no idea… Bathroom, probably.”

“Let’s get you cleaned up.” She led him to the bathroom. He sat on the edge of the bathtub while she combed through the stuff in the drawers and cabinet until she found a small box with Band-Aids and disinfectant wipes. She started dabbing at the area, wiping the blood off.

“Adrien, that was so unlike you…” What if other-Adrien got into fights? She’d only been here two days and she didn’t know much about how things were different.

“I know, Mari. But he called me pathetic. He said I’d end up… alone…” His voice broke a little, a single tear escaped Adrien’s eye. He quickly wiped it away, but his eyes were flooded. Marinette stopped wiping and grabbed Adrien. He sobbed into her shirt.

“Adrien, I promise you won’t end up alone. I’ll always—always—be here. Alya and Nino, too. We care too much about you to let you be or feel alone.” She said, stroking his hair. “Even if I’m mad at you, I don’t want to lose you. Now, promise me Adrien, that whenever things inevitably get tough, that we’ll stick together and work it out…” Those words came straight from Marinette’s heart. They were words she’d always wanted to say to Adrien—the real Adrien— the words he needed to hear. He needed to know that there’d always be someone that cares out there, and that he would never have to be alone.

Marinette knew Adrien like the back of her hand. She knew that he liked to avoid conflict. She knew he’d rather leave than fight. She needed to know, since they were dating, if he’d at least try to stay. It had only been one day since Marinette found out that she was dating other-Adrien. One very eventful day. She needed to know that when something worse happened, he would stick through the conflict and work things out.

“Marinette, your promise to me guarantees that my promise to you will be true. If you don’t let me end up alone, I won’t leave.” And in that moment, and forever-after, Adrien wasn’t pretending.


	4. Date

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> More cute-Adrienette before things get real

After the events of day two on ‘the other side’ as he liked to call it, Adrien had realized his true feelings for Marinette. Of course he loved Ladybug, but he also knew how brave, selfless, smart, and cute Marinette was. He couldn’t change his feelings, and he couldn’t change Ladybug’s either. She would never love him the way he did her, but maybe Marinette could. If Ladybug wanted to change things back, she would’ve already. Adrien figured he’d be here for a while, so he should just make the most of it.

Marinette was finally getting what she’d wished so long for. A real relationship with Adrien. Their first meeting hadn’t gone too well, but once he’d given her his umbrella, she’d fallen for him. It was an honest gesture, but she’d gone head-over-heels so easily. She’d always thought that her feelings for Adrien would never be acted on, but she’d kissed him. She could talk with him without becoming a blubbering mess. He’d asked her out—on a date.

“Mari?” He’d said. They were walking hand-in-hand to school, as they’d started doing after that weekend. It had only been a week, but they’d both cherished these moments together.

“Yes, mon chéri?”

“Do you want to go on a date?” Marinette’s heart sped up. Sure, they’d hung out around their houses, but Adrien wanted to take her on a real date. Marinette was scared. She’d never been on a real date unless you count the Evillustrator and the boat, which she didn’t.

“I-I do, but…”

“But?” Now his advances towards Marinette were being turned down? What was so wrong about him that people he liked would turn away from him? Was there someone else? There couldn’t have been. They’d been with each other too much for there to be someone else.

“I’ve never been on a date…ever…I’m going to make a fool of myself… and in front of you.” She turned her face away to hide her embarrassment. They’d stopped walking. He gently moved her face towards him.

“Nothing you could do could make me like you any less.” He kissed her on the cheek.

“So will you?”

“I will.” She smiled towards him.

“So I’ll swing by tonight, and then we can go.”

“Go where?” She questioned.

“We can go to dinner… or a movie. Whatever you want.”

“It’s been a while since I’ve been to the theaters. I think we should see a movie… If-if that’s what you want to do.”

“A movie, it is.” He smiled, wrapping his arm around her shoulders as they walked to school once again.

-

“Great…Sabrina’s back. I was hoping she’d be sick longer.” Alya confided. Either Alya must be crazy, or Sabrina took Chloe’s spot as the mayor’s daughter when the switch happened. The second was more likely, which made Marinette feel crazier. She couldn’t imagine Sabrina saying one rude thing unless she was trying to impress Chloe.

“Ninokins!” She shrieked, pulling her arms around him. He smiled, pushing her off politely. If you’d replace Sabrina with Chloe and Nino with Adrien, then it’d be like normal. Except nothing in Marinette’s life was ever normal. Especially after becoming Ladybug.

Alya turned around angrily. It was obvious that she liked Nino. It was even more evident that she hated Sabrina.

“Well, you know my father, the mayor…” The Mayor? So she really did have Chloe’s life. “…well, he wanted me to ask if you’d accompany me to that fashion event we are both supposed to attend.”

“Sabrina—I don’t…” He began, before she cut him off.

“Wow, daddy won’t be happy about this.”

“Fine. I’ll go with you.” He sighed.

“Yay!” She jumped with excitement before composing herself.

“I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: I really don’t like her.” If Alya was a cartoon, smoke would be fuming from her ears and nose at this moment. Both Marinette and Adrien were confused. The Sabrina they both knew was totally contrasting to the Sabrina they just saw. Of course, the reason was the portal they’d fallen through, but it was still peculiar and would take time getting used to.

“Look what the cat dragged in.” Alya sneered. Marinette had never seen Alya so ill-mannered. She grabbed her friends arm before she could attack. Is this what Alya did for Marinette when Chloe went around Adrien? She didn’t think so. But she knew Alya was hard-headed and would fight someone if she wanted to, so the best thing for both Alya and Sabrina was to hold her back.

Sabrina seemed uninterested in fighting with Alya, probably because of her recent illness. She turned the other way sharply. “Come on, Chloe. Let’s go.” She huffed.

“Nino…Sabrina’s kind of mean, don’t you think?” Adrien questioned.

“She—I want to believe the best in people, and you know that Adrien. It didn’t used to be like that, when Sabrina and I were younger. I just wish she’d be more like Ladybug.” Both Alya and Marinette perked up. Marinette was still used to people addressing her as Ladybug, so when she heard her superhero name, it was almost like someone calling her a nickname that they hadn’t used in a while. Now, Alya belonged behind the mask. When the love of her life wished his childhood friend was more like her, both her wishes and fears were confirmed. She’d wanted him to like her, but this her. Not the Alya in the mask, but the Alya behind the mask. Ladybug was a superhero, of course people would like her. But Alya wanted people to like her for her, not for who she was in the suit.

Adrien could relate to the current confusion Nino was feeling. He’d know Chloe most of his life. Up until recently, she was the only friend he’d had. He couldn’t just ditch her once he’d gotten new, better—though he’d never admit to her face to spare her feelings—friends.

“Yeah, Ladybug is amazing.” Adrien said dreamily, remembering his own Ladybug. Although she wasn’t there, she was always in his heart.

Marinette lightly hit him in the chest.

“Ow!”

“Oh, c’mon. That didn’t really hurt.” Marinette rolled her eyes.

“But why did you hit me?” He said, continuing to rub the area.

“You were fantasizing about Ladybug.”

“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have. But you possess some of the same qualities as Ladybug.” He began. “You are both brave, smart, and charming. You aren’t even a superhero, but you could be if you only put on a suit.”

“Adrien.”

“Yeah?”

“No more thinking about Ladybug. Well, unless you are thinking about me. I mean—I meant only if you are thinking about me as Ladybug.” Nice save, Marinette.

“Promise.” He said, smiling at her. He wasn’t lying. She could be Ladybug if she put on a suit. They were almost the same person.

“Class is starting.” Alya said, as the group of friends began walking to class.

-

“I can’t believe that restaurant was open. It’s almost 11 p.m.” Adrien exclaimed.

“Do you want to know what I can’t believe? That Dory found her parents. The whole movie, she her memory kept getting in the way. It was a good movie, though. Thank you for taking me. Also, thank you for dinner.” Marinette said, as they walked along the sidewalk.

“Anytime.” He chuckled. “I had fun, too.”

“Truthfully, I haven’t had this much fun since…nope, I don’t think I’d ever had this much fun.” She laughed. Being with Adrien, she felt weightless. If his hand wasn’t tightly gripped to hers, she felt she would float away.

Nothing ever felt as good as this, besides jumping through the air with Chat Noir on their patrols.

But Adrien would always be better than Chat Noir.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was thinking about writing a second part about other Adrien/Marinette being flung into the superhero life where they have to manuever around their classmates who are totally different than what they are used to. 
> 
> Tell me if you'd like to see that.


	5. Reveal

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> how will our favorite MiracuLESS superheros take the reveal 
> 
> i guess you'll find out

Way back when: 

Growing up, Alya had been infatuated with superheroes. She aspired to be like them: brave, selfless, awe-inspiring. She never thought she’d be one… until one day a pair of earrings showed up on her desk. She decided to put the earrings on, because they were probably a gift from her parents or, better yet, Nino. The latter option was a long shot, but it was worth pondering if her crush had given them to her. 

After putting on the earrings, a tiny little creature sprang out of nowhere. Alya quietly backed away from the large, flying, bug thing. She grabbed her schoolbook and put it in front of her face. She lowered the book so she could see what the thing was doing. It was floating—and smiling? 

“Alya. Let me explain. I am a kw..” 

“It-it knows my name… IT CAN TALK?” Alya was freaking out. Thankfully, her parents were at work and her siblings had the T.V. loud enough they couldn’t hear her screaming. 

“Yes, I can talk,” it giggled. “My name is Tikki and I am your kwami. I will help you turn into a spotted superheroine. You have a partner who will help you. There’s an evil presence in Paris and you and your partner are the only one who can stop him. He is using ‘akumas’ to take advantage of ordinary citizens innocent emotions. You have to find the object the akuma is in; it can be in anything. Once the object is broken you have to CAPTURE the akuma with your yo-yo. If you need the help, throw your yo-yo up and scream ‘Lucky Charm’. When the akuma has been defeated, throw the Lucky Charm in the air and say ‘Miraculous Ladybug’ to put Paris back like it was before. You have 5 minutes after you use the Lucky Charm before you change back to Alya. The earrings are your Miraculous, you may never take them off.” 

“I’m going to be a superhero?” Tikki nodded. 

“Okay. Find the object and break it. Miraculous Ladybug to fix everything. Got it.”

“You forgot CAPTURE the akuma. A previous miraculous holder forgot that step, and I just don’t want what happened then to happen again.” 

“Okay. I think I can remember.” She sighed. “Find the object. Break it. Capture it with the yo-yo. Lucky Charm if I need help. Miraculous Ladybug and everything is fixed. Um, so how do I turn into this superhero?”

“Just say ‘Tikki, spots on!’”

-

Somewhere across Paris, Nino Lahiffe was experiencing sort of the same thing. Sort of. 

“I’m Plagg. Your kwami. You’ll say ‘Plagg, claws out’ when yo..”

“Plagg, claws out!” He was ready to be turned into a superhero. 

“Plagg? What do I do now? What’s this?”

He said, holding his baton. He walked over to the mirror on his wall. A full black suit… a tail… and cat ears? What kind of superhero was a cat? Cats were lazy and really unintimidating. He walked to his balcony and pressed a button on his stick thing, sending him into the air. He screamed like a little girl.

Alya was getting the hang of swinging across buildings. 

“I could get used to this,” she said as she swung. Before she could land, a black-suited boy shot up from out of nowhere. They collided, but she grabbed onto him and swung her yo-yo to catch onto a building and hoist them up. “You must be the partner my kwami told me about.”

He looked up at the girl in the spotted suit. She had saved his life, though he seemed to think he could do it on his own. “I’m…” He remembered looking in the mirror. He was a black cat.

“I’m Black Cat. NO, I’m Chat Noir. And you are… a ladybug?” 

“That actually has a nice ring to it... Ladybug… Ladybug and Chat Noir, protectors of Paris.” Alya laughed.

\-- 

Present Day:

Today, Mayor Raincomprix was throwing a celebration for Ladybug and Chat Noir. Marinette and Adrien had already decided they were going to dress up like their superhero counterparts. They deeply missed being in the suits, so this would help take some of the aching pain away. Marinette had been talking to Alya about how she designed her suit, and Adrien had overheard. He requested that she make his suit as well. Of course, she said yes. 

Putting on the leather jacket Marinette made for him, Adrien felt odd. When he turned into Chat Noir, it was automatic. He didn’t have to put it on like a shirt, or snap a black mask over his eyes. He decided to pair it with dark jeans (leather pants would be terribly hot and uncomfortable). Marinette wanted to go for a more subtle Ladybug. She knew that a full suit of leather would be horrible out in the sun for a few hours, so she decided on a short sleeve red tee and red jeans with little spots that she sewed on herself. She made herself a mask to match the one she made Adrien, but hers was red with black spots on it. She neatly folded it and put it in her little side purse.

She walked to his house across the street. It was nice having each other so close. They spent a lot of time together. When Marinette wasn’t designing or helping in the bakery, they would hang out. Even when she was working in the bakery, he’d drop by and get some sweets from her (kisses included). She enjoyed spending anytime with him. She felt safe with him, although she knew she could take any obstacle herself. He wasn’t the role of her bodyguard. She knew she could protect herself, but Adrien was like a breath of fresh air. When he was around, Marinette forgot about all the worries of her life and soaked in the time with him. Even if she chose to get things back to normal, she would cherish the relationship she built with him, fake or not. In his eyes, it was real. Portal-Adrien believed that they were together.

“Here’s your mask.” She said, extending her hand with the piece of leather. 

“We should wait until the festival starts to put it on. Unless you want your face to sweat unnaturally.”

“Thank you.” He smiled, kissing her on the cheek. “Wow, Mari. You look great in red.” 

“As do you in black, Adrien.” The leather jacket he wore made his eyes pop. His radiant green eyes shone in the sunlight. She couldn’t wait to see what he’d look like with the mask she made on. 

“Thanks, Mari. We should be going now, we want to get a good spot.” “I don’t want to stand in the front, but I don’t want to be all the way back. So we should stand in the middle towards the front.” She said, as they walked hand-in-hand to the field across the street. 

The park usually had about 50-or-so people in it at a time. As of now, there was probably about 500, and it seemed like there would be more people showing up. Adrien made sure to hold her tight so that she wouldn’t get lost and or trampled by the large group of people. 

“We have come to celebrate the protectors of our great city of Paris!” The Mayor began, and the crowd cheered. “Welcome Ladybug and Chat Noir!” He gestured to the side of stage, everyone expecting them to walk in. Instead, they flipped onto the platform and everyone began hollering. “That was actually amazing, wow.” Marinette exclaimed. “I wasn’t expecting that.” 

“I think it’s time we put on our masks.” Adrien said, pulling the mask out of the pocket and unfolding it. Marinette pulled her mask out as well. Adrien put his mask on and messed his hair up a bit. 

“Oh, crap,” she sighed, as she picked her mask off the floor and dusted it off before putting it on her face. She lifted her head, and turned to Adrien. 

“Chat Noir?” She questioned the blonde haired boy next to her. He reminded her so much of her kitty. The one that she’d constantly turned down when they were Ladybug and Chat Noir. Adrien couldn’t possibly have been the co-superhero she’d been fighting beside for almost two years. It was impossible, she’d seen Adrien and Chat Noir when they’d fought Volpina. Granted, Adrien was actually an illusion. There was still a possibility that Adrien was Chat Noir. And if he was, then he was from the life where Adrien and Marinette weren’t dating… so, was he pretending the whole time? 

“I don’t think I look much like him, I mean the jacket and the…mask…Ladybug?” And at that moment, he’d confirmed Marinette’s worst fear. He recognized her as Ladybug. Not Marinette. Ladybug.

“Adrien, I have to go.” She said, before walking—no, running—off.

“Wait!” He called after her, but she was already lost in the crowd.


	6. Heartbreak

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The aftermath of the reveal. Marinette is heartbroken and Adrien doesn't know how to fix his mistakes.

Adrien chased after Marinette all the way to the front of the bakery. He’d caught up to her and managed to squeeze between her and the door.

  
“Wait..” He began, he breathed in sharply. “Wait, Marinette. Just listen.”

  
“What is there to listen to, Adrien? I had the biggest crush on you, and when I am finally in a world where we are together, it’s all a lie. I knew it was fake to begin with, but having you pretend to care for me for the past few weeks…” She wiped the tears coming from her eyes. She sniffled, and wiped her nose. “Don’t even get me started on you being Chat Noir. I turned you down since the moment we met because I was in love with…well, you. I’ve got to go,” she said, pushing past him. He should’ve stopped her, but he knew it wouldn’t do any good for either of them.

  
He walked across the street to his house, and walked inside without saying a word. He’d always wondered who Ladybug was. Now that he knew it was Marinette, seems started to fit into place. Their hair and eyes were very similar, if not the same. Their smiles shown so brightly. It confused Adrien as to how he hadn’t seen it before. Marinette, the girl who’d stick up for anybody, was the girl who protected one of the largest cities in the world. The girl he was in love with had always been sitting behind him in class. He’d ruined his chance with the one person he’d loved most.

  
Most people he knew only wanted to be around him for his fame. But Marinette, Alya, and Nino were different. When he’d first met Marinette, he could tell that she only thought of him as a snobby rich kid who was friends with Chloe. He assumed he’d shown her kindness because he had shown her kindness.

  
Adrien Agreste was a strong person. He’d endured many unnecessary actions towards him. His father—the real one—had made his life as close to a living hell as possible. He’d been put through too many uncomfortable photo shoots to count. They’d make him do uncomfortable poses, wear uncomfortable clothing and just be plain uncomfortable for the sake of a few shots that would end up in a magazine that he’d never read. Adrien was strong. He’d survived his mom walking out, and his overprotective father taking over and dictating every waking moment of his life.

  
Chat Noir was strong, too. He’d been thrown around, and under the control of so many of the Akumas. Even his Ladybug had thrown him off of a building at least once—that he could remember. His miraculous must have given his suit the ability to protect him from intense damages. Chat Noir’s physical strength could not compare to Adrien’s. He’d been constantly turned down by Ladybug—Marinette, who’d just confessed her feelings for him—left by his mother to his father who cared too much. How he’d managed to survive all of that and still smile every day? It was a mystery.

  
“Adrien, you’re home mighty quick… Adrien, get back here, young man.” Adrien huffed. For a fraction of a second, he was reminded of his real—other—father.

 

“Is everything alright?” He was then brought back to this reality.

  
“Yes...” He thought for a moment about what he would tell his father. “No, actually. I think Marinette and I just broke up,” Adrien said, holding back tears. He really did care for Marinette. Everything since the moment he kissed her backstage of his first—and only—show was completely real and true. He’d been confused on how to deal with his feelings for Marinette, and his feelings for Ladybug. They were now one person, and he’d lost them both.

  
“I’m… I’m so sorry, Adrien. Is there a reason? Did you try to fix it?” Gabriel pulled his son into a hug, and rubbed his back sympathetically.

  
“I tried, but she… just wouldn’t listen. She was…stubborn.”

  
“Just like your mother…” Gabriel laughed very quietly. “It wasn’t a smooth path with me and your mother, either. Adrien, if you truly love Marinette, don’t give up on her so easy. Give her the space that she needs and deserves but don’t let her go unless she truly wants to leave. Let her have the time that she needs to think things through.”

  
“Thanks, Dad. For the advice. I do believe my feelings for Marinette are true. We just both need time.” Adrien tightened his grip around his dad. It wasn’t that often that he’d have a chance to be around his father this much and to hug him and be this close.  
“I’m very proud of you, Adrien. You could’ve let yourself be changed into an akuma victim.”

  
“And that would’ve been terrible. But my emotions are under control.” Adrien had enough practice concealing his emotions. In his world, Ladybug could handle the akuma herself—she didn’t really need Chat Noir—but he still didn’t want to be under the influence of something he fought so hard to protect Paris from. He didn’t focus intently on the negatives in his life. He made sure that—in hard times—that he remembered all the positives in his life and not let his emotions get the better of him. He didn’t want to cause Paris—or anyone, for that matter—any heartbreak. He’d seen enough of it himself, he knew better not to inflict it on others. Yet, here—in this situation—he’d hurt both a best friend and the love of his life.

  
He laid in bed, staring at the ceiling. He wondered what he could do to fix this situation.

  
\--

 

“Marinette, what are you doing here?”

  
“Alya, we need to talk. And I need to ask you for something.”

  
“I don’t usually say no.”

  
“Can I borrow your earrings?”

  
“No.”

  
“Okay, listen. I know this is going to sound crazy. And you won’t believe me. But I’m being one-hundred percent truthful.”

  
“You are scaring me, Marinette.”

  
“Alya… I know your secret. I know that you are Ladybug.”

  
“How…How did you…I was so careful. No one was supposed to know. Did you see me detransform after a fight or something? Well, if anyone knew... I’m glad it was you.” Alya starred at the wall for a moment. “Why do you want my earrings?” She asked, uneasily.  
“This is where it gets crazy.” Alya looked at her with a questionable look. “I am Ladybug, too. Well, I was in my world.”

  
Alya laughed.

  
“Where’s Adrien? You guys must be pranking me.”

  
“I’m serious. Deadly serious, Alya.”

  
“Tell me something only Ladybug would know then.”

  
“Your kwami’s name is Tikki.”

  
“You overheard me talking to her.”

  
“When you transform, you say ‘Tikki, spot’s on!’”

  
“You heard me start my transformation.”

  
“Okay.” Marinette thought for a moment. “When you become Ladybug, all of your fears drown away. You don’t fear that you are doing the wrong thing, you just know that you are doing the right thing for Paris. You stand triumphantly by Chat Noir’s side and…” A single tear slid from her eye, but she continued. “And you don’t worry about the mistakes you’ve made, only the people you’ve saved and lives you’ve effected for the better.”

  
“Marinette, I want to believe you. But I can’t just give you my Miraculous. If you really were a Ladybug, then you know how important it is that I keep these earrings in my ears. I trust you, and I trust that you wouldn’t do anything, like betray me and give Hawkmoth my Miraculous, but I…I just can’t. I hope you understand. What did you need them for anyway?”

  
“I was hoping that I could use my yo-yo to ‘Miraculous Ladybug’ everything and pray that it would sent me and my Chat Noir home.”

  
“Your Chat Noir? Do you know who he is?” Marinette laughed, wiping a tear from her eyes at Alya’s question.

  
“I do.” She laughed again. “Last person I would expect, actually.”

  
“Who is it?” In that moment, Alya showed the journalist-quality that Marinette missed about her.

  
“I can’t tell you. Not now, at least. I’m still processing it myself.”

  
“Don’t give up hope, Marinette. I’m sure you’ll find a way to get back to your world.”

  
“Thanks, Alya.” Marinette said as she stood up to leave.

  
“Oh... Marinette.” She turned around. “If you are here, where is my Marinette?”


	7. Miraculous

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marinette is Ladybug. Adrien is Chat Noir. Except, this isn't the Adrien and Marinette we know and love. This is the-other-side-of-the-infamous-portal-that-sucked-our-superheros-into-another-world Marinette and Adrien. They were dating. Adrien was a DJ and Marinette ran the Ladyblog. Now Adrien is a model with an absent father, and Marinette is her idol. Everything will seem absolutely PURRfect, until it's not.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i referenced another fandom i am in, let me know if you find it.

Adrien was walking along the streets of Paris with his girlfriend, Marinette when he’d been flung through a portal and into a magic leather cat suit.

Marinette turned around, looking every which way for her boyfriend.

“Adrien?” She assumed that he wouldn’t be far and maybe had run along to school in need of something.

As she was walking towards the school, she was also flung through a portal. Except the was flung into her favorite superhero’s magical suit.

“We have to do something, Ladybug.” Of course, it wasn’t his ladybug. He couldn’t quite tell who it was.

Marinette, on the other hand, had dreamed of this her whole life. She dreamed of becoming a superhero. Saving people, hunting villains: the superhero business. Given her luck though, she wasn’t surprised that she hadn’t become the superhero of Paris. She believed she wouldn’t have been good at it anyways and Paris was better off with her not being a protector of Paris. Now that she’d been, quite literally, flung into the role of her role model, she was taken aback. She felt this surge of confidence that assured her that she could defeat this akuma. She’d seen, recorded, and rewatched most, if not all, of Ladybug and Chat Noir’s fights. She’d rewatched their fights—many times if she was being honest.

She wondered if it was a dream. She couldn’t really be Ladybug. If this wasn’t a dream, she’d cherish every moment spent as her hero. If it was a dream, it wouldn’t be the first time she’d dreamed of being the spotted heroine of Paris.

It didn’t feel like a dream. She felt conscious and aware and everything was so sharp and in focus. It felt too real to be a dream.

“Um, Ladybug… there’s an akuma!” Chat Noir shouted. Something was different about this Chat Noir. The cat in front of her had very light, blonde hair. It was very close to her boyfriend, Adrien’s hair.

“Right.” She swung her yo-yo and it latched onto the chimney of a building. She swung around, and snatched the necklace off of the Alternator that she assumed had the akuma in it. It didn’t look like it had been changed during the akumatization. Her assumption was correct when she threw it on the ground and a small black butterfly escaped from broken pieces. She threw her yo-yo in the air. Some magic butterflies later, a man lay crying in the fetal position.

“Um...sir?” A very-flustered Marinette said. She was still reeling from her new-found superhero powers.

“Ladybug? Was I akumatized?” The man said, wiping tears from his face and standing to his feet.

“I’m afraid so, but everything is going to okay now! Chat Noir and I took care of everything.”

“I didn’t really do anything.” Chat Noir said from behind Ladybug.

“Shush, Chat.”

“Well, thank you Ladybug. And Chat Noir. I’m sorry that I caused this.”

“It’s okay!” Ladybug said. “It’s better now that you aren’t under Hawkmoth’s influence. Chat Noir or I can give you a lift home if you need it.”

The man looked around.

“I don’t actually live too far from here. I will walk.” He smiled.

“Tomorrow will be better, I promise.” Chat Noir called to the man as he was walking away.

After landing on the roof of the bakery and detransforming, she felt a small thing fly away from her face and into the air. At the sight of it, she screamed.

“What…what are you?”

“Marinette? Are you okay?”  

“I’m fine? But…what are you?”

“Something happened with that akuma, didn’t it?”

* * *

 

“The last thing I remember before being Ladybug?” Marinette sighed. “I was walking to school with my boyfriend, Adrien.” Tikki coughed.

“Boyfriend? Adrien is your boyfriend?” Tikki laughed.

“What’s so funny, Tiktok?” Marinette said seriously.

“It’s Tikki.”

“Right. Sorry.”

“Anyways, if you really are from another land like you say you are, then something you should know is the Marinette from this land can’t say one word around Adrien with blubbering like an idiot and foaming at the mouth.” Tikki did an imitation, causing Marinette to giggle. But then she sighed, and frowned.

“Adrien won’t remember our relationship?”

“I don’t know that for sure. There’s a chance he could, but there’s also a chance that this is Adrien from this world. That would mean that you two aren’t dating and he might be a little weirded about by you all over him. The best thing to do is wait until absolutely sure that Adrien is your Adrien or not.” Marinette sighed again.

“I will do my best to control myself around Adrien.”

“I suppose it’s a good idea that you learn about Ladybug. Paris still needs a savior.”

“I think I have that one in the bag. I know everything about Ladybug. I even ran a blog about her.” Marinette giggled and Tikki sighed.

* * *

 

The streets of Paris were empty, and a lonely boy was walking underneath the street lights on his way home.

“Where are you going, Adrien? Your house is the other way.” The little black thing in his coat questioned.

“It is? It is. Sorry, I’m just a little tired.”

On the outside, Adrien was very calm. On the inside, there was a tiny, screaming Adrien Agreste running in circles. The best way to get through this, he thought, was to pretend like he was the same Adrien Agreste who was also Chat Noir. The most reasonable thing in this situation: google himself. He learned all about this Adrien Agreste. His father, Gabriel, was designer, of all things. His house, the Agreste mansion, was huge. And he was currently on his way there.

“Oh, come on, Adrien. I did all the work, don’t hit me with that ‘Plagg, I’m tired’. Now, I’ve eaten enough cheese from your pocket, let’s transform so you can hop into your window undetected.”

“Sorry, Plagg. Transform me?”

“You usually say ‘claws outttttt…...” Plagg said as he was pulled into the ring on Adrien’s hand.

Adrien was still getting used to being conscious in the world. It’s not every ay that you wake up as a model/son of a million-dollar fashion designer/teen superhero. That would definitely take a while to get used to. He extended his baton, sending him into the air. To his surprise, he managed to get into the window without smashing it.

“Woah.”

“Never gets old, huh?” Plagg said, zooming from the ring on Adrien’s hand.

“Nope…” Adrien said, relaxing onto the bed. Besides being flung into an alternate dimension—which was tiring all on its own—he had been flung into an alternate dimension where he was a superhero. And a model. Just yesterday, Adrien was a DJ. Adrien was dating Marinette. And all of that had been snatched away. Now he was a model, a superhero, and as far as he could tell—didn’t have a girlfriend. In his research, he was unable to find record of any girlfriend. He missed Marinette already.

In the midst of his racking his brain for any sort of explanation for this situation, a slender woman walked in holding a tablet, touching away at it.

“Don’t forget you have fencing tomorrow after school, Adrien. The limo will pick you up from the school at 5.” Fencing? Adrien had never fenced in his life. He was sure he could manage to poke someone with a stick for an hour or two.

“Thank you.” He said as she left the room. Adrien hadn’t seen his father yet. It worried him, but he was sure his new father’s life was very busy.

* * *

 

Adrien was happy that one thing in his life was familiar. He still attended school at Collège François Dupont. And he could still see Marinette every day, but he’d have to work his way up to relationship status with her…again.

“Marinette!” He shouted upon seeing his girlfriend. Well, he wasn’t entirely sure what they were. In this life, he assumed they were friends.

“Adrien.” Marinette smiled. But then Marinette remembered that this version of her could not form a coherent sentence around the boy who was her boyfriend in her other life. “A-Adrien. How…hi…are…you? Now…No, I meant… Hi, how are you? You obviously haven’t gotten high…” She smiled, sheepishly. If she ever got back to her other life, she’d seriously consider pursuing a career in acting.

Thinking about seeing his girlfriend who wasn’t actually his girlfriend versus actually seeing her not being his girlfriend were vastly different. It secretly hurt both of them, though they’d never admit it that to each other.

“I’m good. How are you?” He smiled at her. She—in character—dropped the school books that were in her hand.

They both bent down to pick them up, knocking heads in the process. Adrien and Marinette looked up to meet each other’s eyes. It pained Marinette be inches away from Adrien, looking into the eyes of the only love of her life and not be able to kiss him. From what Tikki told her, she knew that Adrien did not feel the same for her in this life. If she kissed him, she’d confuse Adrien and everyone around him. What if he had another girlfriend that she didn’t know about?

“Adri-kins!” Marinette heard a similar. Except the voice she heard was high-pitched and it sounded…fake. She turned around. It was Chloe. But this Chloe was not the one she or Adrien remembered. They Chloe they remember was very shy…but not this one.

Adrien finished helping Marinette gather her things, and extended his arm to help her up. A thoughtful gesture. But before he was able to finish carrying out said gesture, Chloe slithered her arms around his neck, pulling him away from Marinette.

“Chloe.” He said through his teeth, putting on an obviously fake smile. He moved his head away from Chloe and tried unwrapping her arms. It was no use. Her arms kept getting tighter around him, constricting him.

“I don’t want to be rude, but please let go. I can’t breathe.” Upon hearing his request, she loosened her grip. But she still kept an arm around her shoulder.

“Marinette, you are so clumsy.” Chloe laughed, remembering the situation between Marinette and Adrien she walked in on.

“Enough, Chloe. Leave her alone. What did she ever do to you?”

“She’s just... I don’t know, Adrien. Why are you asking so many questions?”

“I asked one. And I demand an answer.” Adrien grabbed Chloe by the forearm, gently pulling her to the side.

“She never did anything to me.”

“Then why treat her so horribly? She has never done anything to deserve it.”

“Exactly, Adrien. She’s class president. People look up to her and see good in her—because that’s all she is. Good. She’s not a bad person, and I know I am. I can’t help it.”

“Yes, you can. You just need to start by apologizing to everyone you have wronged.”

“So you mean every Parisian citizen? By the time I’m done with that, I’ll be an old woman. No, thanks.” She huffed and walked away. Adrien sighed. It would take a lot more than one talk to get through to Chloe.

“I’m really sorry about Chloe.” He said to Marinette. He understood that Chloe would only listen to him. It seemed as she had a crush on him or something. “I..I wish she wasn’t like the way she is. I tried my best to talk to her. Maybe she’ll take my advice one day.”

“And what advice was that?” She said, blushing.

“To apologize.”

“I wouldn’t count on that.” Marinette sighed.

Last night, Tikki had brushed Marinette up on everything. From her non-existent status with Adrien to her relationships with other students. Her kwami was with her at all hours of the day. You never know when someone is going to have their negative feelings manifested into detrimental powers given to them by an evil supervillain.

Marinette was still reeling from the events of the past 24 hours. She was Ladybug—and she was sure this wasn’t a dream. There was one thing missing from her life: Adrien.

The biggest question remained for her: would she ever get him back?

And the thought of the answer being no scared her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> did you find it? :))


	8. Make-up

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marinette and Adrien reseolve their stupid conflict. They talk and fall more in love with each other.

In times of intense sadness and anxiety, Marinette Dupain-Cheng turned to her kwami. She would tell Tikki all about the drama in her life and Tikki would give great advice. As of now, she didn’t have the built-in best friend that came with a magical pair of earrings. So—as any sane person would do—she talked to herself.

“Adrien…perfect Adrien… is Chat Noir… and Chat Noir likes Ladybug…who is me… I still can’t believe it. I’m still just so upset that he lied… I know, I know… we both lied to keep the lives of our other self on track, it just stings. I know I shouldn’t be mad, Tik… but I am. If Adrien had told me the truth from the beginning, we wouldn’t have gone through this silly mess… I guess he thought the same thing I thought… That I was the other Marinette.. I should really talk to him.” She sighed. She’d been hard on him for no reason. It had taken her days to realize that. She did the exact same thing he did…so how could she be mad at him for that?

-

One thing Marinette always enjoyed was a hot cup of coffee or tea. It soothed her throat and soul as it she sipped on it. It made her warm and fuzzy and made her feel safe.

She knew that she needed to clear things up with Adrien. She pulled her phone out and sent him a text.

**Marinette:** We need to talk. Come over?

**Adrien:** On my way. Be there in 5.

“When Adrien gets here, tell him to go up to the balcony.” Marinette said to her mother.

“Alright…but I thought you two broke up?” Sabine said, questioningly.

“We are…we’re trying to work things out.”

“Okay, hun. I’ll send him up.”

Marinette sat on the balcony, her arms against the table and a cup of coffee in her hands.

Adrien made his way up to the balcony and sat in the chair opposite of Marinette.

“So…” He said after it had been silent for a few moments. Neither of them knew how to begin. “Marinette…I’m sorry. I understand why you are upset with me. I just want you to know that my feelings were real for you since the night of my first show. You made me feel important. And I don’t really feel that way that often. I keep replaying the events of…well, the events of everything since we’ve gotten here. And I remember correctly, you said you were in love with me?” He said, running his hands through his hair and looking up to meet her eyes.

“We’ll get to that later.” She said, blushing immensely. “But first, let me apologize. I got upset at you for no reason. You shouldn’t be apologizing because you didn’t do anything wrong. It took me too long to realize that I did the exact same thing to you. I was just hurt because I thought you were faking your feelings for me. It hurt because I really do like you, Adrien. And one day, I could love you. If anything, you should be mad at me for getting mad at you.”

“That’s too complicated, and how could I be mad at my bugaboo?” Adrien laughed.

“How did I not see it? That you were Chat Noir. It’s going to take me a while to comprehend that.” Marinette sighed, looking longingly toward Adrien.

“As Chat Noir, I’m more free. That’s why I’m different. When I’m plain ol’ Adrien, I have responsibilities and an image to keep up with…for my father’s sake. But when I’m Chat Noir, I don’t have to impress anyone, and my only responsibility is to protect Paris.”

“I miss being Ladybug. I never knew how much I liked being Ladybug until it was gone. I miss Tikki.”

“Tikki?” Adrien questioned. “Oh, your kwami. Mine’s name was Plagg. Even though he’s annoying and causes me to smell like nasty cheese, I sure do miss him.”

“Oh.” Marinette giggled and Adrien looked at her questioningly. “That’s what’s different about you. You don’t smell like cheese.”

“But, for one thing: it’s helped me _sniff_ out who Chat Noir is in this life.” Adrien giggled at his pun, and Marinette punched him lightly in the arm, giggling.

“Who?”

“Nino. I smelled the cheese and then saw the ring. Any luck on figuring out who Ladybug is?”

“Actually, yes. It’s Alya. I actual confronted her the day we broke up, requesting her earrings.”

“…and she obviously didn’t give them to you because we are still here.”

“I don’t know if the cleansing butterflies would have fixed it anyways. And if I was in Alya’s position, I wouldn’t have given my earrings up either.”

“What if we can’t get back?” Adrien sighed. “Would that be so bad?”

“Adrien…”

“Listen, Marinette. In this life, my dad is…well, he’s actually a dad. I’ve seen him and spent so much time with him and it’s been amazing. He told me he loved me, and I hadn’t heard that from him in so long. Most of the time, it was ‘I care for your safety’, but that never justified love. And he’s proud of me, too. I just…don’t want to give up on this just yet. I want to hold on to him and this love from him that I haven’t felt in so long.”

“I understand, Adrien. But we should at least keep looking for a way to get back. Since there aren’t double of us, then that means that other Marinette and Adrien are in our shoes. Think about this: a boy has grown up with a loving father, but then is transported into a world where his father is cruel in the name of love. He… you don’t deserve that. And I know not going back is the easy thing to do, but it’s so cruel.”

“I know, I know…” Adrien said, as he began crying. Marinette pulled him in for a hug, stroking the back of his head in comfort.

“I’m going to be there for you every step of the way, Adrien. I care too much about you to let you think you deserve that kind of treatment. You don’t. No one does.” Adrien continued to sob into Marinette’s arms. “You deserve the world, Adrien. You’re amazing. In our world, you somehow managed to do all the activities that your father wished you to do, and protected Paris. I could barely make it to school on time. And I didn’t do half of the activities you did.”

“Marinette, you are the most amazing person I’ve met.” Adrien said, wiping tears off his eyes, and looking into Marinette’s. “You even had Ladybug’s qualities when you were Marinette. Brave? Selfless? Beautiful? Check. Check. Check.”

“There’s one more thing that I’m confused about…”

“…and that is?” Adrien said wearily, lifting himself from Marinette’s arms. He’d finished crying.

“You don’t like me…you like Ladybug. You liked me only when I was Ladybug. So…now that you know who I really am…how do you feel about me?”

“Marinette, I didn’t just like you when you had the mask.” Adrien smiled towards her, looking longingly in her eyes. “I liked whoever was under that mask. And when you made me felt important the night after we got here… I’ve liked you. Not the ideal Ladybug, but the real Marinette. I was just wondering how I’d break I’d deal with my feelings for you and with Ladybug. But, now that I know you and Ladybug are the same… I’m ecstatic. I have my superhero partner and my best friend wrapped into one.”

“Adrien…” Marinette smiled back. “I really like you.”

“I really like you, too.”

“I honestly did not believe you were Chat Noir.” She said, stifling her laughter. “Adrien and Chat Noir—in my mind—are two very different people. You have a really polite smile, but your superhero persona… I don’t even know how to describe it. It’s just I never could believe my superhero partner and the love of my life were the same person.”

“Love of your life?”

“Oh…sorry. I take it back. You don’t want to be the love of my life.”

“No... No... I want to be.” He smiled at her.

“Really?”

“Of course… I love everything about you. Both sides of you. Not just the masked version, but the unmasked Marinette.”

Something about the crisp air, the Eiffel Tower looming in the distance, and being inches from Adrien’s face gave Marinette a sudden burst of courage. She kissed Adrien. On the outside, she was calm and collected. On the inside, she was freaking out. She’d kissed Adrien… and he’d confirmed to her that he liked her. It was a dream come true. In the moment her lips touched his, she’d began to think about her future. She’d imagined seeing Adrien on his knees proposing, walking down the aisle to meet him at the altar, him holding their child and them growing old together. She’d done something similar before, but now it felt more real. More reachable. This future that she’d thought of was going to come true.

That is… if they never got back to their other life.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did you enjoy the chapter? I just wanted you to know, it's okay to cry. I cried whilst writing it. Anyways, I just want to thank people who read and comment. I appreciate every single comment and reply to most (if not all). :)


	9. Kids in Love

It was entirely true that Marinette believed the best option was for Adrien and herself was getting back to their original life. It was her heart that believed otherwise.

She’d worried about herself—her other self—and how she’d react if she was suddenly flung into the life of a superhero. She began to worry, remembering how she’d reacted when Tikki had first flown out of the tiny box left on her desk. She’d worried that her Paris was in destruction and chaos because Ladybug was missing. Then she remembered one crucial thing. The Marinette from the life she was currently in was obsessed with Ladybug. She was basically Alya, who was definitely superhero material.

So, if she didn’t go back… Paris would be okay. Adrien and Marinette could live a normal life. They’d be happy. They wouldn’t have to worry about Hawkmoth. They could get married, have kids and die happy. But what about their other selves? They’d be forced to live the life that they were meant to live. Marinette would do everthing in her power to get them back. But, if they couldn’t get back, it wouldn’t be too bad.

They could still do the things they wished to do before, but it would be more difficult. They’d have to first destroy Hawkmoth before settling down and thinking about starting a family. She didn’t know how long that would take. Years—decades even.

“I imagined how I would reveal myself to Chat Noir a thousand times—I imagined who would be under the mask, but I never thought it would happen like it did.” Marinette laughed. “The most plausible reveal scenario I could come up with was probably an accidental detransformation. I don’t think I ever could have willingly shown my civilian identity to you.”

“I’ve told you before, I’m not disappointed. But…Are you? I mean, you had this perfect idea of Adrien—I mean me...in your head, and then to find out that I’m your partner who always manages to be in the wrong place at the wrong time and makes too many puns.”

“Adrien, I wouldn’t trade you or your superhero identity for anything in the world. Chat Noir was my best friend—and Adrien was my first, and hopefully last, love. I love both Adrien and Chat, and--”

“You love me? I’m flattered.” Adrien said, readjusting the phone on his ear and himself into his bed. Marinette blushed, turning onto her stomach and stuffing her face into her pillow. “You know… there is something I’ve been meaning to say, and I haven’t said it. I know that I’ve told you that I like you—but I feel that deep down, you don’t seem to believe it. Of course, I like Ladybug, but that’s just an extension of yourself that I liked before I got to know the girl behind the mask. What I’m trying to say…is that… I love you, Marinette.”

“I love you, too, Adrien.” Marinette said, blushing uncontrollably. She’d said it to herself, the pictures of Adrien plastered on her wall, her computer wallpaper—but now, it was real. She’d said the three words that she’d never thought she would have the courage to say to Adrien—and he felt the same… he was even the one who said it first!

At age fifteen, Marinette never expected to love someone. She never expected to be a superhero either, but life has a funny way of working out. Growing up, Marinette always believed that she’d meet her Prince Charming in some romantic way. She was glad the way it turned out though—who else could say that they met the love of their life while saving Paris from a supervillain? Their love was unique, and that’s what Marinette loved about it. She believed—among other things—that Adrien was her soulmate. The one she was destined to be with until the end of time. She believed it even before they started dating—actually dating, not pretending to date each other. The love of her life was Adrien Agreste.

The only love Adrien had seen between people was his parents and television shows and movies. His parents loved each other—but they weren’t always the happiest couple. They’d fought about a lot of things. Mainly stuff that was concerned Adrien. They had different ideas of how they wanted to raise him. The thing they fought about most often was where Adrien would be taught. His mom wanted him in school, while his dad wanted him homeschooled so they could keep a closer eye on him. On the other hand, all the movies and shows he saw with love had two opinions on love. They either mocked it, or they amplified it. He didn’t know what was real love—until he looked into the eyes of Ladybug, and later Marinette, and felt like he truly had a purpose in the world.

“Marinette, it’s time for dinner!” Sabine yelled from down stairs.

“Coming!” Marinette shouted. In a much quieter voice, she said goodnight to Adrien. “Tomorrow, I’m going to start researching if there is any way we can get back. In the meantime, I have got to go. Text me.”

“I love you.”

“I love you, too.” She would never get tired of saying that to him. She ended the phone call and headed down the stairs, awaiting dinner with her parents. Except there wasn’t three placemats as she was expecting, only two.

“Where’s Papa?” She said, taking her place at the table and sipping on the water her mom set out for her.

“I think he’s… I don’t actually know.”

“Hmm… that’s odd.” Unless, it wasn’t—she’d only been here a few weeks and still didn’t know much about her parents. Maybe it was normal that Tom Dupain didn’t spend much time with Marinette and Sabine.

“Not really,” Sabine sighed, and continued, “just…don’t worry about it, Marinette.”

Marinette and her mother ate silently. Marinette wondered about her father. Where was he? As established many times before, this is another world…so obviously, her father in this world was different. But why would he leave without explaining where he was going? She didn’t have any answers and didn’t have the energy to find them, so she shrugged it off and continued to eat with her mother in silence.

As she was washing the small amount of dishes, she received an alert on her phone. An akuma alert. It was nothing new to her—they had one in her other life, too. It had been set up by a tech-savvy citizen of Paris who felt it was necessary. The alert had been created so that the citizens in, near, or planning to go the affected area would know to stay away. Neither Marinette, Adrien, nor Alya would complain about this app. It alerted the two superheroes and the journalist—along with all other Parisian citizen who had the app—of when and where the akuma was and any other knowledge on the akuma—such as the powers it was wielding. In this life, Marinette didn’t have the ability to transform into Ladybug and fight the akuma, so she dried her hands on a towel next to the sink and checked the Alert.

**L’Akuma** : 8:53 p.m., two blocks west of the Eiffel Tower, water powers.

Marinette rushed towards the door.

“Marinette, are you going to film for the Ladyblog?” Marinette turned and nodded towards her mother.

“Oh. Be safe, sweetie. I love you.” She said, and began to finish the rest of the dishes. Marinette hurried out the door just in time to not see her mother cry. What would it take to get one family meal without anyone leaving? Her husband was never home, and Hawkmoth liked to cause akumas at dinnertime. That meant that she’d be eating dinner alone.

It took Marinette longer than it would’ve if she had if she had a magical yo-yo, but she made it to the sight of the akuma. She pulled out her phone and began recording.

Ladybug and Chat Noir flailed in the air after being blasted with a large surge of water. They quickly got back up.

“Is it true that cats are afraid of water?” Ladybug chortled towards Chat Noir.

“My Lady, I’ll have you know I’m not afraid of anything.”

Usually while filming, Marinette kept silent. But it seemed that the two superheroes in front of her (…or Alya and Nino…) couldn’t find out where the akuma was.

“The Akuma’s in the water bottle.” Marinette shouted from behind the trashcan where she was hiding. The two superheroes looked over at Marinette, looked at each other and then began to chase after WaterBoy. Ladybug swung her yo-yo, knocking the bottle out of the small boy’s hands. Chat Noir slid under the air of the boy grabbing the water bottle and smashing it on the ground. A small black butterfly came from the debris on the ground. The black cat moved out of the way so that Ladybug could swing her yo-yo to cleanse the akuma.

“Ma-my amazing Parisian citizen who I do not know, thank you! I didn’t even have to use my Lucky Charm.” Ladybug chuckled.

“Does that mean we can hang out a little longer?” Chat

Marinette stared at them. _Those hopeless kids_ , she thought.

“I suppose.” Ladybug laughed as Chat giggled and did a small dance. From the outside, it was funny. Alya was Ladybug who liked Nino who was Chat Noir who liked Ladybug who was Alya. It was also hilarious that Alya was in the same position Marinette was months earlier.

“Don’t you think it was weird that we liked each other—like I liked Adrien who was Chat Noir who liked Ladybug who was me?” Marinette brought up to Adrien when they talked on the phone before bed.

“I think that it just proves that we are meant to be, no matter what.”

“Also, don’t you think it’s a little…mean, that we aren’t helping Alya and Nino out? I mean, we they are in the same position we were in and we aren’t doing anything to help them skip the heartbreak we endured? I mean… If someone would’ve told me what was going to happen before hand, I could’ve mentally prepared myself and not acted the way I acted towards you--” Adrien cut her off before she could continue rambling on.

“I believe it’ll happen as it is supposed to happen. We know they are meant to be together—they are us! This alternate Fu would not have chosen them to work together if they weren’t meant to be. We both know that.” Although Adrien couldn’t see, Marinette was smiling. Her cheeks radiated a bright pink.

“I still think we should at least try. Maybe our interfering will be what gets their relationship jumpstarted. My interference helped right before I… we fought Animan. As Ladybug, I locked them in the cage that helped them realize they had a lot in common. Maybe they just need a small push…”

“Let’s just see how things progress between them… and if things aren’t heading in that direction, maybe we give them a small push in that direction. I don’t suggest going out of our way to get them together. Besides, if Nino is anything like me...he likes Ladybug. It might take him a little while.” Marinette rolled her eyes to the darkness of our room. There was a silence that only lasted a few seconds but Adrien realized he said something that might have upset her.

“In both of our defenses, we didn’t know that the person under the mask was just as wonderful as the girl underneath.” 

“Whatever you say, Adrien. I think we should go to bed, I think it’s getting pretty late.” She checked the alarm clock beside her bed. “It’s midnight already? Time flies. Goodnight, mon chéri!”

“Time flies when you’re doing something you love. Goodnight, Marinette.”

It would take Marinette a long while to get used to Adrien being her actual boyfriend.


	10. Cat & Bug

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Let's check back to our other-side-of-the-portal Adrien and Marinette. Adrien is still trying to get Marinette to want to date him, but Marinette...has a crush on Chat Noir?

It had been weeks, and Adrien was still not any closer to getting Marinette to be his girlfriend.

“I think we should ask Marinette and Alya to hang out tonight. I don’t have anything else to do, and I love hanging out with her—I mean… you guys.” Adrien blushed, suggesting their afternoon plans to Nino as they walked to school.

“I think that’s a great idea, bro.” For a while now—even before they’d come through the portal—Alya and Nino had been trying to get Marinette and Adrien together. Most of the time, it was Nino suggestion to hang out with them. Adrien suggesting to hang out with them made it seem like he was starting to like Marinette. “Suggestions?”

“We should ask the girls what they want to do.” Nino nodded and they headed up the stairs and into the school.

“Hey!” Alya said, grabbing Marinette’s wrist and heading over to Adrien and Nino.

“We should hang out tonight,” Adrien said, a slight blush creeping onto his face, “It’s Friday, and I don’t have anything scheduled.” Talking to Marinette had never been easy for Adrien. Before they started dating, he had acquired such a huge crush on her that it was hard to concentrate sometimes. When his Nino finally gave him the courage he needed to ask her out, she—surprisingly—gave him a chance. And they’ve been dating since.

“Marinette and I were already discussing me spending the night tonight, but I think that’s a great idea. What about you, Marinette?” Alya nudged her.

“Sounds great. Do you guys want to play video games or watch a movie at my house? It won’t cost us anything and you’ll get a homemade dinner.”

It had been weeks since Adrien had gotten his last homemade meal. Having his ‘father’s’ personal chefs make food was fine—it just wasn’t made from the heart like his dad had frequently made for the two of them.

They all nodded. Adrien, Alya, and Nino pulled out their phones to text their parents—or in Adrien’s case Nathalie—that they were going to be hanging out with Marinette after school. Marinette texted her mom that they were coming over, and asked if she could take the pictures of the blonde model off her walls before school ended.

“I can’t wait!” Adrien chimed. He genuinely was excited to hang out with his friends and Marinette. Between saving Paris and modeling—and whatever else his father had him do—he hadn’t gotten much time to himself. Nathalie was nice enough to grant him one day of freedom with his friends.

The school day went by incredibly slow for the four friends. The four of them didn’t get to hang out because someone was always busy. Marinette balanced school, designing, and unbeknownst to anyone else: being one of the city’s beloved superheroes. Adrien balanced school, modeling, the nine-thousand other activities that his father wanted him to do, also unbeknownst to anyone: being the city’s other superhero. Alya balanced the school blog, the Ladyblog, and babysitting her two sisters. All Nino did was DJ at home for fun. He had the most free time—which sucked—causing him to be bored most of the time.  

As the day dragged on, Marinette got increasingly nervous. It wasn’t the fake nerves she was supposed to be pretending to have. Marinette knew she was dating Adrien in her other life, but since becoming Ladybug it seemed that her feelings for him were fading since he was…different. Something she wouldn’t even admit—not even to herself—was that she had feelings growing for her partner, Chat Noir. When she was around him, there were butterflies—not only the akumas they were fighting—but the ones in her stomach.

Alya and Adrien shared a last class, so they waited for Nino and Marinette in the front of the school so that they could all walk to Marinette’s house together.

“Nino told me that it was your idea for us to all hangout tonight?”

“Yeah,” Adrien blushed, “like I said: I have a day off and I just wanted to do something relaxing—hanging out with her—I meant you guys.” Alya smirked in his direction. Nino’s suspicion earlier was confirmed by the mistake Alya had just heard escape from his mouth. But before she could confront him on it, Marinette and Nino walked up.

“I think we should head over there, yeah?” Marinette walked up, completely oblivious to the small conversation that just transpired between Alya and Adrien.

The others followed Marinette into the front door of the bakery.

“Hey, Alya!” Sabine Dupain-Cheng, Marinette’s mother, addressed Alya and then her other two friends. “You’re Adrien—I’ve heard a lot about you. And you must be Nino.” She walked up to the two guys and shook each of their hands. Marinette walked past her mom, kissing her cheek.

“We’re just going to watch a movie or play a game in the living room, we haven’t decided yet.”

“Ok, honey. Take these snacks. Your father and I will be up there in an hour or two—after we close and clean up.” For Marinette, it was weird for her dad to be around. It was a good weird. She appreciated the time she got to spend with her dad—even if it wasn’t her father. She felt bad for Adrien because she had learned that his father was—to put it nicely—hard to get along with. She hated seeing her boyfriend like that, even if they weren’t technically dating him. She knew that she needed to get back, but she was living her dream. A two-parent household, and she was Ladybug. She couldn’t ask for anything else.

Nino picked out a movie and Marinette put in the DVD player and the teens stood there awkwardly waiting to sit on the couch. Marinette didn’t have a preference to where she wanted to sit.

Alya grabbed her arm and they sat in the middle of the couch, leaving enough room for a boy to sit on either side. Nino figured out what Alya was doing and followed along. He sat next to Alya, and the only spot left was next to Marinette. Adrien sat down and they watched the movie, everyone cracking jokes and getting along.

“That’s me when I wake up in the morning.” Alya joked to Marinette once a demon-like scary creature popped up on the screen.

“Who’s idea was it to watch a scary movie?” Marinette joked, glaring at Nino.

Something scary popped up, causing Marinette to instinctively grab Adrien’s hand from the couch. Adrien’s eyes darted between Marinette’s and their intertwined hands. He started to smile before Marinette ripped her hand away from his.

“I’ll be right back,” Marinette said, getting up quickly from the couch almost falling over the small coffee table in front of the couch. Marinette ran into the hall outside her living room, Alya followed a few steps behind.

“Girl, where are you going?”

“I—I don’t know. Adrien and I held hands… and I thought I would feel something…”

“You didn’t?”

“Alya, I don’t think I like Adrien as much as I did.”

“You mean to tell me that you’ve been pining over this boy since the first day of school—and you suddenly don’t like him anymore? Girl, what is going on?”

“I—I think I like Chat Noir.”

“Chat Noir? Chat Noir?? I have spent the last few months doing everything in my power to get you and Adrien together and now you want to tell me that you like one of Paris’s superheroes whom you’ve met once? Mari, you are impossible.” Alya huffed.

“Alya…I just—I know I’m not the only one who likes Chat Noir… but he’s amazing, strong, and he’s willing to sacrifice himself for m—Ladybug.”

“I support you… and you have the right to like whomever you want, but I don’t want you to get hurt. I have interviews with Chat Noir and I have firsthand knowledge of his huge crush on Ladybug. I just don’t want him to not reciprocate your feelings and you get hurt.” Alya brought Marinette in for a hug. “I’ll do what I can, though.”

“Thank you, Alya. You are the bestest friend I could’ve asked for.”

“Now, let’s get back in there before the boys think we’ve died or something.”

“Are you okay, Marinette?” Nino said when they walked back into the living room.

“Yeah, I’m good.” Her eyes wandered to Adrien, who had his eyes glued to the screen. He didn’t even look at her when she walked into the room. He looked sad…and hurt. Did he truly like her? It hurt Marinette to see the boy who looked like her boyfriend, but who wasn’t her boyfriend, upset. She liked Adrien, enough to date him after they realized they had a connection when Ladybug and Chat Noir stuck them in a closet together. Adrien had made a pun when they got to their science class about how “they had chemistry.”

Now, they were in some weird world where Marinette wasn’t dating Adrien, and things were just…weird. She couldn’t tell her best friend everything without revealing the secret of the girl she was pretending to be. She would not be selfish and ruin things and reveal secrets that weren’t hers.

“Marinette has a huge crush on Chat Noir.”

“What?” Adrien said. Marinette swung her arm to hit Alya in the stomach.

“I think it’s a piece of news that we shouldn’t keep from our friends.”

They finished the movie, and Adrien and Nino headed to Adrien’s for their sleepover.

“I can’t believe you told them. I take back my “you-are-the-bestest-friend-I-could’ve-asked-for” statement back. I’m mad.” Marinette rolled her eyes, she was mad, but Alya had the guts to do something that Marinette would never be able to.

“What are they going to do? _Tell him_?”

“Who knows?  Adrien’s dad probably has connections to Ladybug and Chat Noir somehow and then, Adrien being the good friend he is, says something to Chat Noir about my feelings towards him, which he doesn’t know. All he knows is that I have a “huge crush”, which I’m not even sure is the case.” If life were ever simple, Marinette would be grateful.

The night continued, and they laughed, watched funny YouTube videos, talked about Ladybug and finally fell asleep towards the latter half of 2 a.m. When they finally awoke at about 11, Marinette’s mother had prepared brunch, which was some croissants from the baker down below, scrambled eggs, and some fruit—strawberries and blueberries to be precise.  For the night, Tikki hid in a small, but nicely decorated, area in Marinette’s closet.

“Thank you, Mrs. Dupain-Cheng.”

“It was no problem, Alya. And like I’ve said before, you can call me Sabine.” She smiled.

They ate their food, telling Marinette’s parents about the night before—except for the small fiasco with Adrien and her newfound crush on Chat Noir. Soon after noon, Alya’s mom texted her saying that she needed to go home.

Marinette took the pictures of Adrien that she had her mom take off the wall and put them on the shelf in her closet. The only picture she kept of Adrien up was the one of all four of them that they had taken in the park. She changed her computer background to one of Ladybug and Chat Noir. Now she wouldn’t have to look at the pictures and be reminded of the night before and how awkward she was.

“I’m going to get a cup of tea and go onto the balcony. It’s a nice night.” Marinette said to her mom, kissing her on the cheek.

“Okay, hun.”

It was nice, peaceful Saturday. No akumas—not yet at least. Marinette would not put it past Hawkmoth to find someone with negative emotions on such a beautiful day like this.

She was just finishing her cup when she saw what looked like a black bat flying through the sky. It looked like a black bat—but it was getting closer and bigger. When it landed on her balcony, she realized that it wasn’t a bat. It was cat. And not just any cat—it was Chat Noir.

“Chat Noir? What are you doing here?”

“I was…just swinging through the neighborhood. And.. um…your light was on and I was drawn to it?” He said, wearily. He didn’t know why he’d shown up and what he just told Marinette was a complete lie.

Ever since Alya had said that Marinette liked Chat Noir, Adrien felt he should either 1) approach Marinette and tell him that he was Chat Noir, or 2) approach Marinette as Chat Noir and start a friendship that way and eventually tell her that he was Adrien. The latter seemed like the better option.

“Hmm…Okay? Are you just going to stand there or will you come sit down and talk to me?” Marinette batted her eyelashes in his direction.

“Well—if you’re going to be like that, princess, I’ll just go.” He turned away—smirking—and about to swing off the roof.

“No, please stay. I’ll be nice.” She smiled. “Please, sit.”

Chat dropped off the railing and onto the balcony and walked over to the small table and sat down across from her. He smiled at her.

“I’d love to stay.”  

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! I love reading all your comments, and I'll reply to them!! I love you all!!! :) <3


	11. Back

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Someone comes back into Adrien's life that changes how he feels about going home.

“Tikki, if I don’t like Adrien—will that mess up…other me’s life?” Marinette laid on her bed, her kwami on the pillow beside her.

  
“I—I can’t say for sure. In all my years…I haven’t seen anything like this. If that Chat Noir is the original Chat Noir and you express your feelings for him, then that will mess things around. He can’t know that Ladybug likes him.”

  
“So—like Alya—maybe people will believe I don’t like Adrien anymore and nothing else. Right? I just don’t want people to know that I’m…she is Ladybug. I know how much you’ve expressed how much she didn’t want people to know.”

  
“She doesn’t even want Chat Noir to know. That is why you must keep your feelings together. You can’t let your feelings for Chat Noir blind you from the real goal: defeating Hawkmoth.”

  
“You’re right. Thanks, Tikki.”

* * *

  
“Marinette likes me! Well, not me—but still me.” Adrien said, excitedly.

  
“I’ve known Marinette liked you since that one time in the rain, dude.” Adrien looked at the kwami questioningly. “Your first day of school when she thought you put the gum on her seat but really it was Chloe. And then later in the rain—you apologized and she’s been in love with you ever since. Romantic, really. But it is weird that, suddenly, she doesn’t like you but she likes Chat Noir.” Plagg paused for a second before turning back to Adrien. “And since when did you like Marinette? I thought you were in love with Ladybug.”

  
Adrien took a moment to formulate his thoughts before speaking.

  
“My relationship with Ladybug is unrealistic.” Adrien sighed. “And besides…Marinette is just as great if not better that Ladybug.”  
  
“Please, Adrien. I’ve heard you talk about Ladybug for months—months. And now you’ve suddenly moved on from the girl you’ve put on a pedestal for the girl who sits behind you in class.”

  
“I—Plagg, who I like is none of your business and I don’t have to explain myself to you. I can like Marinette if I want to, and I want to.”

  
“It’s my business if you keep transforming to go see her. I expect more cheese than the usual ration.” He crossed his small arms, waiting for a reply from Adrien.

  
“Fine, fine. But Nathalie is going to get worried about my stomach and all this cheese I’m supposedly eating.” Adrien sighed, rolling his eyes at Plagg.

* * *

* * *

  
“I wonder how they are doing over there…” Marinette spoke softly as she walked arm-in-arm with Adrien on their way to school.

  
“Who? Oh, yeah. I do, too. Especially other me. I mean, going from this father to my father…I can’t imagine how he’s coping.” Adrien sighed, worrying about himself.

  
“Well, other-you has other-me. I’m sure he’s fine.”

  
“I wonder if they’ve ruined our lives yet. I mean, we did an okay job pretending to date each other before we started dating each other. They went from dating to each other to having to pretend otherwise.”

  
“You’re forgetting one of the biggest details. They are now superheroes.” Marinette sighed, looking towards the sky and worrying about her Paris.

  
“Oh, yeah. I wonder how much chaos our Paris is in. I hope they are okay—both other us and the rest of Paris.”

  
“I guess it’s nice actually being on time to school, though,” Marinette said to Adrien as they walked into the school building, “and it’s nice to having to worry about Chloe and her antics causing akumas.”

  
“Yeah, but now we have to worry about Sabrina and _her_ antics.”

  
“That is true. I feel like if our Chloe was like this Chloe, she’d be a great superhero.” Adrien nodded in agreement.

  
“She wasn’t always so bitter.” Adrien sighed. “I remember when we were kids—we were playing in the park and I tripped. She ran over to our moms and got a band-aid and rushed to my side. She patched me up, and even gave my boo-boo a kiss.” He laughed, remembering the fond memories.

  
“That’s…sweet. I wish I’d known that Chloe. If she was nicer to me—and everyone else—I could be friends with her.” Marinette sighed, thinking about if Chloe had not grown up to hate Marinette.

  
“When we get back, she’s going to have to. You’re my girlfriend now, and if she wants to be friends with me, she’s going to have to accept you.” Adrien smiled, as they walked into the school together.

  
Marinette thought it was nice that Adrien said, “when” and not “if” they got back. She knew the strong reason that Adrien didn’t want to—his father. They’d gotten no closer to finding a way to get back, but they kept an ear out.

  
Not pretending anymore was quite enjoyable. They didn’t have to pretend to be dating and they liked to think that they had gotten used to life on the other side. After all, it had been about three months. They missed aspects of their life—namely their kwamis—but they had routines and they were settled in. Marinette and Alya were still close, despite knowing Alya’s secret.

  
“I was just thinking—and tell me if this doesn’t sound like a good idea. But maybe we should take a yoga class, or karate or some sort of physical exercise because I feel like I’ve gained so much weight since coming over here. My body is not used to not doing anything. I’m used to jumping on rooftops with you, and not sitting on the couch watching movies with you.”

  
“Are you calling me fat?” Marinette joked, poking his stomach. “Oh, wow. You are kind of chubby.”

 

“Exactly. Whilst being Chat Noir, my eating habits were covered up by my super-exercise. Now, I have nothing.”

  
“I think karate would be a nice class to take. I bet we’d be really good at it after all that super-exercise, as you call it.”

  
“I’ll ask Nathalie look for a class—shoot. Just kidding, me and my father will look for a class and I’ll get back to you.” Adrien chuckled. He missed Nathalie. After his mother disappeared, Nathalie was the closest thing Adrien had to a parent figure. She didn’t have any kids of her own, but she cared for Adrien like he was hers. She didn’t always out-right show her feelings for Adrien, but they both knew deep down that there was a bond.

  
“Ok. I’ll have to ask my mom, but I’m sure she’ll be fine with it.” Marinette smiled, adjusting her arm around Adrien’s as they walked up the last step together.

  
“Hey, Nino. Have you seen Alya?” Marinette questioned the whereabouts of her friend when Nino’s car dropped him off at the front of the school a few minutes later.

  
“I haven’t actually. I don’t think she’s here, yet. I’m exhausted, guys. I don’t even know why.”

  
“Late night?” Adrien questioned, smiling towards Marinette. Back when they were Ladybug and Chat Noir, they had a few late nights of their own. They’d talk for hours, forgetting about time. The latest they’d stayed up talking was near 4 a.m., when they’d finally part ways and end up not getting much sleep.

  
“I couldn’t fall asleep.” A slight blush creeped onto Nino’s cheeks. He was—most likely—lying. Obviously not wanting to delve deeper on the subject, Marinette changed the subject.

  
“We have class soon, I hope Alya gets here in time.”

  
“She still has five minutes. Don’t worry, babe. She’ll be fine.” Adrien reassured Marinette. In return, she gave him a small smile. Months ago, she’d been in the position Alya was currently in. And since Marinette knew her secret, she would do anything to help her friend out.  
Minutes passed, and Marinette grew more worried about Alya. She knew she probably just woke up late, but she knew how much being late almost every day affected her grades.

  
“Madam Bustier, Alya is running a few minutes late.”

  
“Alright.” By this time in the year, Alya would know to come into the room quietly.

  
A few minutes later, sure enough, Alya snaked her way into her seat next to Marinette without distracting the class. Marinette smirked at Alya. Alya rolled her eyes in return.

  
“Tell me all about it later.” Marinette mouthed and added a wink, causing Alya to exercise her eye muscles by once more rolling them.

School was uneventful. They did their work, or tried to. Marinette and Adrien were too busy making eyes at each other, and Alya was too busy staring lovingly in Nino’s direction to pay much attention to their teachers.

  
“I need to hear every detail of your night with Chat Noir.” Marinette giggled alongside Alya while her boyfriend and other best friend were headed to Adrien’s to han.

  
“It was nothing, we just talked all night.”

  
“You might have forgotten that I once had those exact same nights with my Chat Noir. And I can tell you those nights meant something. Let me tell you everything. In my world, I liked Adrien. And, unbeknownst to me, my Adrien was Chat Noir. My partner, and quite possibly the love of my life. So, what I’m saying is: you put Nino on a pedestal. You can barely make a sentence out in front of him. A good relationship is based on communication. If you can talk to someone like Chat Noir for so long that you forget what time it is and end up being late to school—and trust me it happened to me and Adrien quite a few times—that’s someone you should be with.”

 

“What I got from that is you think Nino is Chat Noir. And that’s funny.”

  
“Yeah. So very funny.” Marinette stifled a laugh. If only she knew.

  
On the other side of the street, Adrien and Nino were talking about the girls.

  
“I know you probably get tired of me talking about her, as I do you talking about Ladybug. But Marinette is amazing. She truly is and I was so blind to see it before. She’s so caring, funny and not to mention beautiful. Nino, I know we’re young but I think I’m going to marry that girl.” Adrien said, his imagined life with Marinette flashing before his eyes.

  
“Dude, I can talk about Ladybug all I want. She’s amazing. Marinette is great and all, but has she saved Paris?” Adrien laughed, and Nino joined along with him.  
Adrien decided to joke around with him.

  
“You got me there. But, Ladybug has saved you maybe once, how are you so sure of your feelings for her?” Adrien knew that they’d had talks about anything and everything until ungodly hours in the morning. Just like he and Marinette had had.

  
“We…I just admire her. She does a lot for Paris, and last time I checked I was a citizen of Paris.” Nino rolled his eyes at Adrien.

  
“Uh-huh, right. Well, good luck with Ladybug. I mean the next time you actually see her could be months from now." Adrien said, still joking with Nino.

  
"Adrien, I don't know if this is a good idea. But I'm going to tell you anyways. I'm Chat Noir."

  
"I know."

  
"You probably don't believe me-- wait, you know?" Nino questioned.

  
"Yeah." He laughed. "I've known for a while."

  
"And that--that was you teasing me? Because if you knew I was Chat Noir, then you know how I could have such feelings for Ladybug. Yes, she's saved Nino, but she saves with Chat Noir. How did you find out?"

  
"Now, if there is any possibility of anyone not believing, it's here. I used to be Chat Noir."

  
"That's impossible. I've had conversations with my kwami about past Miraculous holders and he never mentioned you."

  
"Well, you see...I'm not Adrien. I mean I'm not DJ-ing, happy-go-lucky Adrien. I'm an Adrien from an alternate timeline where I am that world's Chat Noir."

  
"I think I believe you, bro. Tell me, what was your Ladybug like? She isn't as awesome as my Ladybug, I'm sure."

  
"Well, actually..." Adrien thought about what he was going to say for a second. He didn't want to put Marinette's secret out there, so he carefully chose what he would say. "She is a lot like Marinette. I think that's why I like her so much. They could be the same person."

  
"How long have you been here? I mean in this alternate world." Nino questioned.

  
"About three months."

  
"But you..I mean other you and Marinette were dating before that. So have you been pretending to date her?"

  
"At first, I was." Adrien sighed, and then smiled. "But I got to know her and since--I think--a few days after we-I came, I haven't been pretending."

  
"So... Adrien, will you do me the intense honor of being my...wingman? I don't think I can do this without you, dude."

  
"Of course, Nino. It would be my honor."

  
The boys continued to play video games and chat here and there about anything and evertthing before it was time for Nino to leave.

  
"Thanks for coming, Nino." Gabriel patted him on the back as he closed the door behind him, turning to Adrien. "I really enjoy that young man's company."

  
"Nino is a great guy, my best friend actually."

  
"You sure do choose the right people." Gabriel said. "Now, go get cleaned up for dinner."

  
Adrien nodded and headed to the bathroom to use it and then to wash his hands. After a few moments, he heard the front door open and his father...talking to someone? It was probably just one of his dad's friends stopping by.

  
He expected maybe anyone else, but not the woman that was on his doorstep.

  
"Mom?"


	12. Mothers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There's moms and exercising but the more important thing is the moms.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm an absolutely terrible person for not uploading for months. I have no excuse. I present to you: Chapter 12! I plan to write one to two chapters after this so that I can wrap this up! Thanks everyone for reading!!

Since Chat Noir arrived at her balcony almost three months ago, they'd been spending so much more time together. Adrien had to keep reminding himself that it was _totally_ healthy that he was repressing his feelings for Marinette when he was Adrien.

Their class, however, was totally baffled about the switch between Marinette and Adrien's dynamic. After about a week of being in this weird place, Marinette had dropped the act. She'd quite suddenly was more comfortable around Adrien, and the blonde model had begun stuttering and was less able to talk around Marinette then he had before. Many times, he'd caught himself talking to Marinette and almost bringing up something that they'd talked about when he was Chat Noir. He didn't want her to know--not yet.

"Are you going to Alya's party at the park?" Marinette questioned Adrien at school one day. He wasn't paying much attention because he was too busy absent-mindetly staring at Marinette.

"Hmm? Alya's party... Of course, she's my friend. I assume you--you are going as well?" Marinette nodded.

"Well, I guess I'll see you there." Marinette smiled. She would be lying if she said she didn't miss dating Adrien. She did miss him more than she'd care to talk about, but she and Chat Noir were practically dating now. Neither had suggested making it official, but she was happy with where they were.

"I hope Hawkmoth doesn't make an akuma tomorrow." Marinette said to the small kwami later that evening. "I'd just really feel bad because it's Alya's birthday." 

"You know Alya," Tikki giggled, "She's like you. I mean--she is like how you were before. She'd be ecstatic if Hawkmoth created an akuma. She loves adding new content to the Ladyblog."

"Hmm...I guess you're right."

"Isn't Chat Noir supposed to be coming tonight?" Marinette nodded.

"About him...do you think it's bad that I'm not telling him that I'm Ladybug?" Marinette questioned Tikki.

"I believe it's for the best. We're trying not to ruin other Marinette's life too much, remember?"

"Oh, yeah. I keep forgetting about her...me?"

"This is a very...unusual situation. In all my years, I've never seen anything like this." Tikki sighed. "It is also a very delicate situation, you have to be very cautious with your actions."

"If the effects of the akuma are fixed when I say "Miraculous Ladybug", why wasn't I transported back to my original timeline?"

"I don't know. Maybe Hawkmoth endued it was a magic that is out of our grasp."

"Does...does that mean that I'll never get back? That you'll never get the original Marinette back?"

"I don't know. Tomorrow we can retrace your steps, again, and we'll see if you remember anything that can help." Marinette nodded.

"Now, hide Tikki. It's 7:58 and Chat said he'd be here at 8." Tikki gave Marinette her version of a hug (by pressing her entire small body against her cheek) and zoomed off to her cozy corner in the closet.

Two minutes passed and she heard the pitter patter of two feet on her roof.

"Bonjour, Chaton."

"Hello, M'lady. I've missed you." He walked up to her and kissed her delicately on the cheek. Adrien truly missed her, even though he'd just seen her earlier that day. He couldn't ever tell her, or she'd think he'd was a creep who stalked her during the day. And he definetly wasn't ready to tell her he was Adrien. When Adrien said he missed her, he missed her but he also missed that he could be himself around her.

"I've missed you, too."

"What are we doing tonight?" Chat asked, leaning against the ladder up to her bed.

"I don't know." Marinette sighed, then giggled. "I didn't realize that I'd be given a lot of homework tonight or I wouldn't have invited you over. I guess you could maybe help me do my homework?"

Adrien also had a lot of homework, but he thought that seeing Marinette was more important. Now, he could get some answers and spend some time with his...girlfriend?

"Sounds good."

They spent the next two hours discussing the homework, and getting it done. It was mostly physics, which Adrien thought he was particle-lary good at. He'd made sure to annoy Marinette with all his science puns.

"Thanks for helping me out with my homework, Chat. Your almost as good at physics as Adrien Agreste." Adrien laughed weakly.

"I bet he's a smart dude, because I know a lot about physics. Goodnight, princess." Adrien kissed her on the cheek before heading out.

"Goodnight, Chaton. See you Sunday?" Marinette called as he was stepping on the railing, ready to extend his baton and swing to the Agreste mansion. Adrien turned his head slightly, making eye contact with her, and nodded.

"Looking forward to it, as always."

-

"I was walking with Adrien, and we were walking arm in arm. That's all I remember of being on my side of this mysterious portal that likes to ruin the lives of teens, created by a man who seeks to take pieces of jewelry from superheroes."

"There's a Hawkmoth on your side, right?" Tikki asked.

"Yeah. He's not much different from this Hawkmoth. Unknown motives, but still demands the Miraculouses." Marinette had chronicled her Hawkmoth's many akumas in detail as owner of the Ladyblog.

"And you didn't have the earrings until you got here?" Marinette nodded.

"Does that mean anything?"

"I'm not sure if it has any impact, but if you have the original Marinette's earrings that mean she doesn't have her powers. Maybe, since it wasn't her who used the Miraculous to cleanse the city is why it didn't work."

"So, other me would have had to steal the miraculous from Ladybug of that universe."

"...and knowing Marinette, she wouldn't."

"Is there anything we can do from this side?"

"Keep fighting Hawkmoth. That's what the city needs. If we can defeat Hawkmoth once and for all, then we can search for a way to get you back. Things might never go back to the way they were. Maybe this is all part of some big plan that we are a part of. I don't really know." Tikki sighed.

For Tikki, this whole experience was new. She'd been giving people superpowers since the beginning of civilization, and she'd never experienced anything like this. She'd never had a miraculous holder transported to an alternate dimension and not come back immediately. Even Chat Noir had died, because of Time Breaker, but he'd been brought back by the magic butterflies. There was so much stress worrying about Marinette (both of them) in that teeny little body of Tikki's.

"You should probably head to bed, so you can get a jumpstart in the morning."

"You're right, Tikki." She snuggled Tikki, "At first, you kind of freaked me out, but I've grown to love you. You've really helped me through this whole experience. I’m going to miss you."

-

Nino, Marinette, and Adrien walked awkwardly beside each other into Alya’s birthday party. Between their unofficial break-up to their nightly escapades with one another, Adrien and Marinette hadn’t spent much time with each other as Marinette and Adrien. Things were a little awkward between them.

It wasn’t a raging birthday bash, but rather a small gathering of some of their classmates at the park. Kim, Alix, and Max were on the bench discussing some obscure show that none of the others had seen. Ivan and Mylene were dancing to music. Nathaniel, Rose, and Juleka were tasting the finger sandwiches Alya’s mom had made in preparation for the party. Sabrina would have come, but Chloe wouldn’t dare let her “humiliate herself”.

“These are delicious.” Juleka said, grabbing another one and walking back to Rose’s side.

“You can say that again.” Rose expressed.

“These are delicious.” Juleka stated, matter-of-factly. Rose rolled her eyes and pushed against Juleka jokingly.

“I can’t believe your mom could make something so simple into something so delicious.” Nathaniel said to Alya, who was walking around to make sure everyone was having a good time.

“She’s quite amazing, isn’t she?”

“I love Alya’s mom,” Marinette wrapped her arms around Alya, and continued, “she’s probably better than my mom.”

“No way,” Alya laughed, “Sabine Dupain-Cheng is the alpha mom.”

For Marinette and her other life, all she had was her mother. Her father wasn’t around. She saw for only a few minutes each day before school and he was gone until the wee hours of the night. Sabine didn’t want to give up on her marriage, so she sacrificed her happiness for her family. Tom worked a few hours at the bakery during the day, but then would leave Sabine to work the bakery herself before Marinette could get home to help. Marinette was happy here, with this version of her parents. Maybe it was a dream…A dream that she didn’t want to wake up from.

\-----------------------------------------------------

Meanwhile, Adrien and his dad couldn't find a karate class that was currently accepting beginning. So, they settled for a self-defense class, began running (among other exercises), and eating healthier.

"Who knew running was so..." Marinette said, breathlessly.

"Exhausting?" Adrien injected. She nodded. "We're out of shape. Four months ago, we were running every day. We never run anymore."

"Can we take a break?"

"Yeah, I'll buy us a water." Marinette sat on a nearby bench while Adrien walked down the street to a street vendor selling bottles of water, among other things.

"Thanks," said Marinette, opening the bottle and pressing it to her lips.

“No problem, babe.”

Marinette coughed, and then began choking on the water in her mouth. Adrien rushed to her side, and started patting her on the back.

“Are you okay?” She nodded.

When she finally regained her breath, she responded.

“Yeah, I’m fine. Just wasn’t expecting that.”

“Oh. I’m sorry. It just kind of rolled of my tongue.” He laughed, awkwardly rubbing the back of his neck.

“No, no. Don’t be sorry. You’ve never called me that before. It’s always been ‘m’lady’ or ‘princess’, or ‘Mari’. That’s like next level.”

“I can stick to the old ones.”

“Call me whatever you want, if I’m ‘yours’.”

“You’ll always be mine. Now let’s keep going. We need this workout.” Adrien stood up and put his hand out for her to grab. She groaned, but grabbed his hand.

-

“How was your run?” Sabine asked when her daughter walked through the door to the living room. Marinette sat on the couch and began unlacing her sneakers.

“Tiring. I feel like my limbs are going to fall off.”

“Just wait until tomorrow.” Sabine laughed, and Marinette groaned.

“Well, I’m going to hop in the shower. And then I’m going to go to bed. Je t’aime, maman.”

“Je t’aime, Marinette.”


	13. Identities Revealed

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The identities of the Guardian and Hawkmoth are revealed to Marinette and Adrien.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ok I know it's literally been 10 months since I've uploaded on this and it really is my fault, but also blame college because I had no time! anyways, I hope the wait was worth it (probably not) but here's chapter 13! one more chapter after this, and it's over :'(

For the first time since arriving in the alternate universe they’d been thrown into, Marinette woke up and she felt like she was home. It didn’t feel so foreign to her anymore and sometimes she’d have to consciously remind herself that she didn’t belong in this land.

Surprisingly, Adrien was very conscious of their situation. He knew that his time with his father—and his mother—healthily back in his life was limited and he wanted to spend as much of that time with him as he possibly could. It’d been about a month and a half since his mother showed up on his doorstep without warning and completely changed how he felt about going back.

Of course, he’d loved every moment having some version of his mother back in his life. But he felt an overwhelmingly strong amount of guilt. He’d inadvertently stolen someone’s mother from them and taken a life that didn’t belong to him. This other Adrien Agreste had been sentenced to a life that he didn’t deserve and knowing that someone was out there being unjustly treated just like he had about five months previously was troubling Adrien.

“I just don’t want to think about a life without them.” Adrien said. Like most weekdays when they were free, Marinette and Adrien were hanging out after school.

“I know, Adrien. I’m getting used to being here—and that isn’t a good thing. The longer we keep this up, the more attached we are going to get and we won’t have the motivation to get back.”

“I want to get back just as much as you do,” Adrien sighed, “I just don’t know how I’m going to adjust.”

“We’ll figure that out together,” Marinette gripped his hand a little tighter, “but for now, let’s try to figure out who Hawkmoth is.”

For the next few hours, the pair went through every attack that had been posted to the Ladyblog before they’d arrived. There were some of the same ones—Mr. Pigeon, Rogercop, Stoneheart—but there were some new ones.

“No one sees what direction the akumas come from. If we knew that, we could trace the movements back to his lair.”

“Let’s create a list of suspects first, and then we can stake out and see if there’s any butterflies leaving the area during akuma attacks.” Adrien nodded in agreement.

“Adrien, come look at this.” Marinette said, gesturing to the Ladyblog site up on her computer. “It’s the Bubbler.”

“Yeah, remember…Nino was akumatized—”

“I remember, but this isn’t Nino. It was you…well, other you.”

“Me?”

“Yeah. Looks like other Adrien was akumatized before we got here. It was Nino’s birthday.”

“Were you—I mean, was she?”

“I don’t know yet.” Marinette scrolled through the records of akumas. “Wait a minute—if I-she wrote the Ladyblog, there probably wouldn’t be any record of it there.” Marinette sighed, slouching back in her chair and rubbing her eyes.

“A diary!” Adrien exclaimed. “If other you was akumatized, maybe she wrote it in a diary.”

Marinette walked from her chair at the computer to the other side of her desk opening the box holding her journal.

“Aha! While I look through this for any mentions of akumas, keep looking through the Ladyblog—especially the victim’s accounts.” Adrien nodded in agreement before sitting at the desk.

“I think I found one that might help,” Adrien continued, “Mila Thomas was sitting on the steps of the Trocadero looking at the Eiffel Tower the night she was akumatized.”

“How does that help?” Marinette questioned.

“She was looking at the Eiffel tower when she saw the akuma coming toward her and tried to get away.”

“So we can rule out the 16th arrondissement, because it didn’t come from behind her. We could also probably rule out the 15th, 17th, and 18th as well. That still leaves seventeen arronsissements, though. Good job, Adrien. Meanwhile, I can’t find anything about other me being akumatized.”

“That’s strange. You’d figure that since other you didn’t have powers, she would’ve been akumatized.”

“I know,” Marinette sighed, “maybe there was never a situation that made her feel so helpless that she needed to be akumatized?”

“Wait…how did you feel when we almost broke up after our little reveal a few months ago?”

“I—I was hurt. My heart felt like it was ripped into a million pieces because I felt like you were lying—”

“Perfect conditions for an akuma, but Hawkmoth didn’t akumatize you. And he didn’t create another one that night, so he would’ve taken that opportunity. This must mean he’s close to you. Do you know who—”

The pieces of the puzzle started connecting in her mind as Adrien was talking. They’d been there for almost five months and she’d barely seen her father. He was never home, and her mother knew that. She’d maybe seen her father a collective hour in the five months they’d been there.

“I know exactly who he could be.” Adrien looked at her questioningly. “My father.”

“Tom Dupain-Cheng…is Hawkmoth?”

She nodded and then explained everything. He knew that he’d been absent the past few months, but Marinette and Adrien had expected the worst: cheating. Well…the second worst—the first being supervillianry.

“Well, it all makes sense. It sucks, but it makes sense. But why? What does he gain by having Ladybug and Chat Noir’s miraculouses?”

“Together, they can grant one wish,” Marinette explained what Master Fu before, “he must be after that wish.”

“What—” Adrien began to question Marinette what his father would wish before he was interrupted by Marinette’s audible thoughts.

“The Guardian!”

“Of course! Why didn’t we think of him before?”

“We have to remember that the Guardian in this land isn’t the Guardian we know. He won’t know us.”

“Let’s go,” Adrien got up smoothly, “we’ve got a ‘moth to catch.”

Marinette looked straight-faced at him, rolling her eyes.

“Yeah, sorry. Sounded much cooler in my head.”

The pair had both previously been to Master Fu’s tea shop. Never together, of course, but they knew where it was.

As they walked, they discussed their situation quietly. They’d hoped no one had overheard them talking about portals, akumas, and a ‘guardian’ or people would think they’re crazy.

“What if he doesn’t believe us?” Marinette asked worringly. “That we were Ladybug and Chat Noir…”

“Then we’ll convince him.”

“What if—”

“Stop worrying, it’ll be fine. If not, we’ll just leave,” Adrien said, but as more of a question. He didn’t quite believe everything was going to go to plan, but he wanted to soothe Marinette’s anxieties about the situation—and maybe persuade himself while he’s at it.

“We’re here…” Marinette said, unknowingly gripping Adrien’s hand a little tighter. “The worst thing that could happen is that it’s just a normal tea shop, right?”

Adrien smiled in her direction before dragging her to the door and knocking on it.

“Fu?” Adrien questioned towards the door, hoping whoever was on the other side could hear him.

“Who’s Fu?” Instead of a short, Asian man answering the door, a tall, Caucasian man opened the door. One who they immediately recognized, and who recognized them.

“Adrien?”

“Dad?”

“Can this get any weirder?” Marinette sighed, laughing.

“What?” Gabriel queried. 

“We need to talk. Can we come in?”

“Uh, yeah. What’s going on Adrien?”

“Okay, wow. This is crazy. Marinette and I—”

“Wait…you’re the Guardian, right?” Marinette interjected.

“Guar—Guardian, I don’t know what you mean?”

“We won’t tell anybody, promise. We just want to get home?” Gabriel looked at Adrien questioningly.

“Home?”

“So…” Adrien started, unsure of how to continue, “I am Adrien, but I’m not the son you raised. Marinette and I—we came from an alternate universe. One where we are Ladybug and Chat Noir.”

“This—This has to be practical joke.” Gabriel laughed. “You’re joking.”

“We wish we were. The Guardian is a man named Fu who…isn’t you.”

“We were fighting an akuma in our homeland and it transported us here. We’ve been pretending to be the Marinette and Adrien that everyone knows. And we know who this Ladybug and Chat Noir are, so…sorry about that, Dad.”

“This all sounds so…”

“Crazy? Insane? Ridiculous? Yes, yes, yes.”

“Pretending?”

“Yes,” Adrien coughed, “for about five months now.”

“Five months? I can’t believe it.”

“Well, you have to. Adrien and I really want to get back before we get even more attached to this world. Then, you get your real son back.”

“What am I like in that other world?” Gabriel questioned.

Marinette and Adrien exchanged glances before laughing.

“Well, besides you not being the Guardian…you’re…” Adrien sighed.

“There’s a possibility other Gabriel is Hawkmoth…”

“Marinette, he was akumatized, we saw him detransform.”

“But, he had the book. We can’t just rule him out,” Marinette groaned.

“We’ll discuss this later.”

“I’m sorry for bringing him—me…up.”

“I really want to thank you, Dad. I hope it’s okay I still call you that?” Gabriel nodded. “Being around this version of you has given me courage. Courage to go back and fix my relationship with my father the best I can. You’ve been there for more than he has in the past few years since…anyways, thank you. I will always be thankful for that.” Gabriel stood before walking in front of Marinette and Adrien.

“Take care of yourself, son. I will do what I can to help you get back. I will see if there is anything that I can translate in the book that will help.” Gabriel smiled, hugging the couple.

“Thank you so much, Mr. Agreste.” Marinette smiled back. “We better get going.”

“I’ll probably be spending the night at Nino’s, if that’s alright?” Adrien asked Gabriel.

“Well, I’m technically not your father, but thank you for notifying me, son.”

Truthfully, Adrien wasn’t going to be at Nino’s, and Marinette wasn’t going to Alya’s just as she’d just texted her mother. They had to lie to their parents because it was time for a stakeout.

On their walk back, they discussed the details of their surveillance (and stopped for stakeout snacks). There was an alleyway beside the bakery that they’d set up in. According to a tool on the Ladyblog, most of the akumas had occurred Friday nights. It made complete sense. Fridays are most often the day of social events, which are prime time for akuma attacks. If an akuma was going to attack any day of the week, it would be today.

They’d barely gotten settled in their spot when a small black butterfly squeezed through a small window on the side of the bakery confirming their suspicions.

Next thing on their agenda? Finding the secret entrance to that lair and confronting Tom Dupain-Cheng.

 


End file.
